


Unknown Hero

by SeraGabriel



Category: Supernatural, Ten Inch Hero
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Psychic, Vampires, badass!Winchesters, hurt!Dean, protective!Dean, protective!John, protective!Sam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-12
Updated: 2012-08-31
Packaged: 2017-11-07 13:05:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 40,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/431506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeraGabriel/pseuds/SeraGabriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Priestly is just an average guy, minus the mohawk and piercings, working in a sandwich shop. At least that was what everyone thought......</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Dean? Is that you?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this...I don't know what this is really. I just wanted to attempt a "Priestly is actually Dean in disguise" story and this is the result.
> 
> I apologize right now as I am the worst updater ever, but I will update. I'm going to see this to the end!  
> I've been working on this for about two years now and I will go another four if have to.
> 
> Even though there are many pairings in this story they are not meant to be a main focus. The point of the story is supposed to be on Dean's reuniting with his family and the aftermath.
> 
> This takes place two years after the last episode of the first season of Supernatural and in TIH when the girls were going to meet fuzzzy 22.  
> That is all :)

Unknown Hero

It was a pretty average day at the shop. The ocean air was blowing into through door, bringing a delicious breeze that cooled everyone down after the afternoon heat wave had passed. It was also fairly quiet; no one was talking or exchanging their usual banter, choosing instead to concentrate on their various tasks.

Jen was on her computer talking to her mysterious fuzzzy 22, and laughing happily at whatever witty comment he had made. She seemed a lot happier now that they had decided to meet. Nervous as all get out, but excited none the less. As a matter of fact it was this weekend that she, and the girls were going to meet him. Chuckling she swiped a stray blond hair back from her forehead, she couldn't wait. She did feel kinda bad though about not letting Priestly tag along, he only wanted to come along to support her as his friend, and hang out, but Piper and Tish had insisted that this was more of a girl's only affair. So she had relented.

Tish was predictably flirting with a guy at the counter, innocently twirling her hair around her finger while trying to explain that she had never had a…you know, before. And wouldn't you know it; the guy was practically bursting to tell her that he was the man for the job. Winking he leaned over and kissed her, playing along Tish rolled her eyes behind his back. Really, men were so predictable. Well, excluding Trucker and Priestly. Trucker was a unique one, bashfully shy and yet completely in love with Zo. It was really very sweet. And Priestly was just. . . .Priestly.

Dipping her paintbrush onto her palette, Piper was trying to get just the riggghht color for the sky as the sun set. Just a bit more orange, annndd. . . . perfect. She had some paint splattered onto her nose and she wiped it off but succeeded in only making it smear more over her face. Darn it. She was supposed to see Noah and Julia tonight and she didn't want to go looking like a canvas.

'Hey, toss me a towel would ya, Priestly?'

'Sure thing.' Today Priestly's hair do was a Mohawk divided into three separate sections, one purple, one red, and one orange. It was, if possible, a little bit more outrageous than usual. He had all his piercings in and it seemed to her that he was a little bit more fidgety today, though she couldn't really figure out why.

And it seemed she wasn't the only one who had noticed.

'Jeez Priestly, how many energy drinks did you down before you came in?' Trucker asked as he wiped down the tables.

'What? No, I don't drink energy drinks, man. The government totally puts this addictive drug into them so everyone gets hooked on them and has to buy them.'

'And why does the government want us to buy energy drinks?' Tish stated sarcastically as checked her nails.

'Because,' he responded,'if they get us all addicted they have something to hold over our heads when we start acting up and not doing what they want us to do.'

'We don't what they want us to do anyway.'

'That's what you think.'

'And why would they choose energy drinks? Why not candy?'

'Because-. .'

'All that aside,' Trucker butted in before a heated debate about government conspiracies and dead celebrities started up again, 'What's wrong with you? You're acting all. . . .twitchy.'

'Twitchy?' Jen finally rejoined the non-cyber world and decided to join in. 'Whose twitchy?'

'Priestly is.' Tish answered her.

'Am not!'

'Well, you are acting kinda off.' Piper put her brush down and went to the sink to wipe off the paint that the towel had failed at getting.

Priestly sighed and a pensive expression crossed his face that none of them seemed to have ever recall seeing before. 'I don't know I just have a bad feeling.'

'That's it? A bad feeling?'

'No, Tish. One should never question one's feelings. No matter how small they may seem.'

'Holy Crap!' Priestly jumped a foot into the air after hearing the soft voice speaking beside him. He looked down to see Zo smiling up at him gently, Trucker staring at her intently from across the room.

'Geez, Zo, you gotta give me a little more warning next time before you talk.'

The older, yet still beautiful lady laughed. 'My apologies.'

'Uh, is there anything I can get for you Zo?' Piper had her pen poised over her writing tab, just as shocked as everyone else at how quiet the crystal lady could be.

'Just my usual tofurkey, thank you Piper.'

She had it ready in minutes and handed it to Zo. She offered her a smile of thanks and walked towards the door. Trucker was blushing pretty badly and trying to make eye contact with her and chickening out every time. Zo smiled at him though as she passed by him, making his whole day with that simple gesture. She was standing in the doorway when she turned back around.

'Oh, and Priestly? I was serious about trusting your feelings. Though I think you may be mistaken about it being a 'bad' one. I believe something wonderful is going to happen to you soon. Keep that in mind.'

Silence descended over the shop as everyone looked at each other and she left.

'Well, that was. . . .very Zo like.' Tish commented.

'Yep, hey, what do you think she meant Priestly?' Piper asked as she moved back to finish up her painting.

'I don't know.' He mumbled. 'I hardly ever understand what that woman means.'

'Well, you did say you had a bad feeling about something. What did you mean?' Jen looked at him and then back down at her computer, eagerly awaiting a response from fuzzzy.

'I just-. . . never mind. I didn't mean anything by it alright? It was just me being stupid.' He turned his back on them and started to chop some lettuce up getting ready for tomorrow, which was usually their busiest day. Tish and Trucker exchanged a glance behind his back. There was something definitely up with Priestly, but if he didn't want to talk about it then there was no way of getting it out of him.

They had learned that long ago when he would clam up about certain things. Like he didn't like fire, at all. Someone else would usually man the oven. And salt, the dude was going to have horrible cholesterol when he got older, you could always find the stuff around him. And his family. The man did not like to talk about anything having to with his family, or home, or anything even remotely related. But in the little shop they most talked about mundane things, so it wasn't ever really a problem. Still they knew when to back off.

'Alright, alright.'

The weird occurrence was soon forgotten, as they usually had weird occurrences like it, and the dinner crowd started to pour in. For a while it was just them barking out orders, making sandwiches, chopping vegetables, and manning the cashier.

'Hey Priestly! We're out of tomatoes! Get some from the back would ya?'

'Ah, come on. The crowd is over. No one else is gonna be wanting a sandwich at 8:30. Besides we close at nine.'

Trucker sighed in exasperation but then had to smile. If you couldn't get Priestly to do something without arguing then something wasn't right. And after his weird behavior earlier it was good to see him acting like himself.

'None the less, would you go get them please?'

'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' He grumbled as he disappeared into the back room.

The bell above the door rang as a few more people walked in. It was an older guy, just a few years younger than Trucker and a kid who had to be the same age as Piper. They were obviously related. Both had dark hair and dark eyes, and were wearing jeans and a bunch of upper layers despite the fact that they were in California.

And they seemed to be arguing.

'I told you it would be open Dad.' The younger seemed to be saying, and holy crap that kid was tall.

The older man's only response seemed to be a gruff growl. And that noise seemed to fit him strangely. He reminded Trucker of a grizzly bear with that scruffy beard and big strong stature. Trucker's instincts, honed after years of being in 'nam told him instantly, when the guy's eyes met his, that he was dangerous.

The kid stopped talking and looked at where the older man was looking and found Trucker's eyes. He narrowed them when he didn't look away or stop staring at them. Scratch that, he decided, they were both dangerous.

Tish had seen them come in and instantly zeroed in on the younger guy, licking her lips and poofing her hair just a little bit. Show time.

'What can I get you boys?'

'Uh,' the kid blushed looking down at his shoes and then back up again, 'I would like a turkey vegetable sub. What about you Dad?'

'You got any beer?'

Trucker laughed at that, and came towards them shaking his head. 'Well, officially we don't.'

Piper and Jen laughed at that and shook their heads. As if this place would ever be not stocked with alcohol.

'But, unofficially we could run our own bar.' Trucker grinned when the older man smiled a little bit back at him, and boy it did wonders. He no longer looked like he wanted to kill everyone within a ten mile radius.

'Hey Priestly!' He shouted to the back room , 'Bring a few beers up while you're at it.'

'So,' Tish leaned forward making sure that her cleavage was in full view of the gorgeous guys eyes. 'My name is Tish. What's yours?'

'Uh, S-Sam?'

'Well Sam, you have a girlfriend?'

'Ah, give the poor guy a break Tish. You can go one night without having sexual intercourse you know. I swear you're just like a succubus.'

At that word Sam and the other guy tensed up a little, but then relaxed after a second. Priestly walked in with two beer bottles balanced precariously on the top of two boxes he was carrying, covering his face and obstructing his view.

'What the heck is a s-….sucky thing?'

' Succubus and it's a mythical creature.' The older guy answered for her though he was staring at what he could see of Priestly in confusion.

'Golly, Priestly, you know more random stuff about mythology than anyone I've ever met.' Piper commented, her tone slightly in awe.

'Once again, what exactly is succubus? Cause I get the strange feeling that you're insulting me.'

Priestly laughed and turned his back to the counter putting the boxes in the fridge. 'It is a demon who takes the form of a woman to seduce men in dreams to have sexual intercourse. Or as I call them. . . sluts.'

'Shut up Priestly.'

The two guys laughed at the little shops antics as they waited for their food.

Priestly turned around fully intending to warn the guy to stay away from Tish, 'Seriously man, If you want to sleep with her go ahead, but I got to warn you . . .she's. . .she's. . 'He trailed off when he saw the two guys staring at him.

The younger especially. He took a step towards him and Priestly's eyes got huge. No way. There was no way.

Everyone noticed Priestly stopped talking and the weird exchange going on between the three guys. Sam cleared his throat and spoke in a whisper, as if he couldn't believe it.

'Dean? Is that you?'

'Shit.'


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was so quiet in the little shop that you heard it quite clearly when he dropped the two beers held loosely between his fingers. The glass and liquid splattered everywhere with a loud crash. Tish and Piper jumped at the sound, while Jen automatically went to find something to clean it up with. Trucker was looking at Priestly while the two men stared intently at the mohawked figure.

'What the heck?' Sam whispered looking at the young man before him and not seeing anything but Dean. Sure he saw the ostentatious hair do, the cheesy t-shirt proclaiming that you should surf naked, and the multiple piercings protruding from his nose, lips, and ears, but despite that all he saw were the bright green eyes staring at him under heavily eyeliner smudged eyelids.

'Um? What's going on guys?' Piper felt the need to speak up, the tension in the air was so thick that it was basically suffocating.

'Dad, its Dean. It is, isn't it?' Sam took another step towards the counter while his dad stared at him with wide eyes. Now John Winchester did not scare easily, but right about now he was getting pretty close. And, even though he didn't show it, he was also strangely hopeful. If it was Dean, if he was here…

But he didn't get a chance to finish his thought because Dean reacted as soon as Sam put one foot in front of the other. He took a step back and looked around, looking for the entire world like a cornered animal. His face was open and he looked spooked, but that soon changed and that immovable mask slammed down, making sure you never knew what he was thinking. Taking another step back to gain some room he suddenly darted forward putting his hands on the countertop and jumping over it, not disturbing a thing on it he had done it so gracefully. He pushed past John who, for the first time in his life, let someone get past him, if only because he was in so much shock.

The bell above the door jingled loudly as he threw the door open and ran out, the glass shattering when it hit the wall.

'DEAN!' Sam shouted after him and soon took the same path. That finally shook John out of his stupor and he moved towards the door, fully intending on chasing down both of his sons. He would have to, if someone's hand hadn't clasped down on his shoulder.

He didn't mean to do it, most people knew not to surprise him like that, but it was purely instinctual as he grabbed the wrist that touched him and turned it around putting the person in a painful arm lock.

'Whoa, whoa, hey settle down.' It was Trucker who had reached out a hand to restrain the older guy, and he was regretting it just a little bit because of the painful position his arm was locked into. It seemed his soothing words weren't calming the other man down though, so he used the training he had learned from fighting in Vietnam to twist out of it and reserve their positions and then he let him go.

The man glared at him and moved towards the door but Trucker stood in front of it.

'Girls, go find out what the heck is going on with Priestly would you?'

They all started to move towards the door when John's voice rang out. 'His name isn't Priestly, its Dean.'

'Okay. Girls, please go?' They all nodded and headed out the door in the direction the two boys had run off in.

'Get out of my way.' Trucker focused his gaze once again on the other guy's face and studied it. The guy looked positively pissed.

'Listen, I don't know what's going on, but Priestly is one of my very good friends. He's practically family to everyone in this shop. We love him, alright? And we don't want to see him hurting. You guys walked in and he started hurting. I'm not sure what the situation is, but how about we handle this in a calm manner, and start talking like adults.'

He got no reaction from the other man except a raised eyebrow so he shrugged his shoulders and held out his hand, 'Here, I'll start. My name's Trucker. And you are. . . ?'

The guy stared at his hand for a minute before grabbing it in what Trucker thought was a friendly shake. It seemed he was mistaken when the guy suddenly tightened his grip and pulled him forward, head butting him so hard that he saw stars.

'John Winchester.' And he ran out the door as well.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Dean! You get your butt back here now!' Sam didn't have a real clue as to what was going on honestly. He just knew that it was his brother that he was chasing, and he never intended to let him go once he caught him. Though he had to admit it was a little strange chasing after a Dean who had a brightly colored Mohawk, piercings, and funky sideburns, as opposed to the leather clad, almost military regulation haircut big brother that he had grown up with.

'Go away Sam!' Dean was not going to let Sam catch him, not now, not after all this time. Jeez when they had seen him would of thought that they had seen a ghost or something. And now they wanted to talk to him? Well too bad, he had spent the last two years here in California building his life, getting to actually know people, and make connections. He even hunted still occasionally, making sure his skills were always sharp and ready for use. Like running for example. He could run for a long, long time.

'No way! I have longer legs than you! I'll catch up eventually!' Oh, but it would be quite a long time before he did. Dean would make sure of that.

'Yeah right, Bitch!' The familiar nickname slid past his lips so easily and filled him with such a feeling of nostalgia that he almost considered to stop running. Almost.

'JERK!' Sam called his brother by the name only he was allowed to, and had to swallow a sudden lump that formed in his throat. He never thought he would have been able to do that ever again.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Piper, Tish, and Jen had decided they would never be able to catch up to the two guys, seeing how far they already gotten by the time they had made it outside. So they just hopped into Trucker's old hippie van and headed in the general direction they thought they went. After a few minutes Piper spotted them.

'There!' She pointed out of the left side of the van and Tish, who was driving, glanced to see that she was right. Then she and Jen and Piper just. . . .stared. It wasn't every day you saw a freakishly tall guy, wearing too many layer of clothes, in her opinion especially, chasing after a guy with a Mohawk, eyeliner and piercings. Tish rolled down the window and they could hear the conversation being shouted between the two as they ran down the sidewalk in middle of the night.

'Dean! You get your butt back here now!'

'Go away Sam!'

'No way! I have longer legs than you! I'll catch up eventually!'

'Yeah right, Bitch!'

'JERK!'

The two guys ran past the van without even noticing the three girls whose mouths had dropped open.

'Well, that is not something you see every day.' Piper commented.

'You got that right.' Jen said from her seat in the back. 'Definitely bizarre.'

Just then they saw the tall guy pick up his pace a little bit more and jump, tackling Priestly to the ground.

'I think we had better go intervene.' Tish said as she pulled over and stopped the car.

Jen closed the car door as she and Piper got out. 'Seriously, what did Priestly get himself into this time?'

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dean started to slow down a little bit, straining his ears to hear Sam's foot falls over the sound of his ragged breathing. He may have been in shape but Sam was too, and a freaking giant to boot. He had kept up with him so far and he knew it was only a matter of time before he took him down. He turned around and. . . . .hey wasn't that Trucker's van?

WHAM!

'Oof!' Dean felt all of the air rushing out of his lungs as Sam tackled him. The sneaky little. . . .he hadn't even sensed him! Used his distraction to take him down. Dean and Sam hit the ground hard, tumbling down onto the concrete, getting various scratches and bruises. He was on his stomach but turned around trying to get back up, and on his feet, prepared to run away. But apparently Sam knew him better than that.

'Dean!' Sam shouted right into his face, and sheesh did he have to be so loud? Sam sat on top of him using his weight to his advantage and pinning his wrists to the ground. 'What the heck!'

'Okay, first off dude, your breath reeks.' Sam just glared at him, so he continued. 'And two, ever hear of personal space?'

Sam snorted. 'Yeah, because three guys living in motel rooms their whole lives have sooo much space.'

'You know what I mean.' Dean snapped at him.

'Yeah I do.' Sam let go of his wrists but still remained sitting on him. 'And I know if I give personal space that you will knock me on my ass and run away again.'

'Eh, true.'

Suddenly they heard three pairs of feet running towards them in a hurry. Sam looked up to see the three girls from the sandwich shop jogging towards them and rolled his eyes, though he did have to smile at their worried expressions. It wasn't like he was gonna kill Dean or anything.

'So do you want to do this in front of them, or come back with me and dad to the Impala, so you can explain where the heck you have been for the past two years?'

'Screw you, Sam.'

'Dean…' Sam narrowed his eyes at him as the girls all stuttered to a stop beside them.

'Okay, okay, everyone can calm down now. No need for anyone to get hurt.' Piper was trying really hard to diffuse the situation, but it didn't even seem that Sam or Priestly had heard her.

'You. . .want me to explain?' He tried to sit up and settled for leaning back on his elbows. 'I wasn't the one who left me alone for two freaking years Sam!'

'What?' Sam started to say, but was cut off when Dean reared back punched him in the jaw. He was dazed but didn't relinquish his position.

'Just go away Sam or Ill make you go away. You know I could always kick your ass!' All the girls were looking at Priestly in shock. Him being the most laid back guy they knew made it a definite shock to see him displaying violent tendencies.

'No!' Sam wasn't going to let Dean get away. Not after all this time. It had been two years! Two long years, in which he was refusing to grieve for a missing brother who he refused to be dead. Heck no, was he going to let Dean leave him now.

'Dean Winchester!'

All five of the people gathered turned their heads towards the booming voice of one very scary looking John Winchester.

'You are going to come back to the Impala with me and Sam, and explain what the heck is going on. . . .now.' John was now standing above him, and the girls looked a wee bit apprehensive of the man before them. Then they all looked back at Priestly wondering how he would react. What he did do shocked them.

Bowing his head down he softly answered, 'Yes sir.'

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Winchester was not a man that showed love very much. Tenderness and compassion and al that crap? Yeah, not high up on his list of frequently used emotions. But it didn't mean he didn't have them. He felt a lot, and loved his boys something fierce. Heck, it was why he raised them the way he did. Knowing what was out there in the dark, he wanted his boys to be safe, to know how to defend themselves and if he got a little revenge against the demon that killed his wife, then that was a plus. But right now, even though his heart was practically bursting with joy at having seen his eldest son for the first time in over two years he was still pissed.

'Where the hell were you?' Were the first words out of his mouth as soon as they had reached the Impala. Sam was standing right next to Dean, close enough to grab him if he made another attempt at running. Which actually wasn't all that likely. Dad had given him an order and after twenty plus years of following them perfectly it was a little hard to break the habit. So when John had ordered him to stay put, he stayed put.

Those three girls from the shop Dean had been working at were all huddled together, staring at him with wide eyes, refusing to leave their friend they had said. Wouldn't leave even after John had said it was family business. They didn't seem to care anyway, and boy, their expressions were the funniest thing he had ever seen when he told them that he and Sam were Dean's father and brother. Apparently they didn't look that much alike.

'I've been here. Now it's my turn, where the heck were you!' John looked down at his boy in confusion. Where were they? Dean had been the one to disappear from his hospital room after being in a freaking coma and he wondered where they had been?

'Don't you know? We've been looking for you this whole time.'

Dean snorted. 'Yeah right.'

'No Dean, he's serious. Ever since you disappeared we've been looking for you non-stop. I mean still hunting occasionally and stuff, but our main priority was finding you! And here you were in California! Working in a freaking sandwich shop!'

'Hey!' Dean shouted right back at him. '. . . .I make dang good sandwiches.' He smirked then and patted Sam's cheek.

'Jeez, Dean.'

'Yeah, I know. No time for jokes. And it wasn't like I was trying to hide from you guys. After our-' He stopped suddenly and looked at Jen, Piper, and Tish who appeared to be listening very intently to their conversation. He cleared his throat. 'After, our little. . . hunting accident. Y'know, where the. .gun misfired?' John and Sam nodded grimly nodded, getting that he was referring to ol' yellow eyes and the colt. 'Well, after trying to get to the hospital and getting in the car accident the next thing I remember is waking up…alone.'

John and Sam looked at each other in confusion. They hadn't left Dean's side for a while. Not for three days at least and then poof, three days after the accident he was gone. Vanished. None of the nurses had seen anything and all of the hospital security tapes showed only static when they tried to play them back.

'Where were you?'

'Dean, I think we better tell you what happened after the accident.'


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Two years ago. . . .

John Winchester let out a long sigh as he sat beside Dean's hospital bed. Beep. . . .beep. . . God, he hated the constant noise of the machine as much as he loved it. Hated the repetition of the darn thing, the annoying sound invading his thoughts. But it would kill him to not hear it, that stupid heart monitor. Because if he didn't hear it, it meant Dean could no longer hear it either. So he supposed he could put up with it. At least until Dean got well enough to not need it.

But in order for him to get better he needed to wake up!

His hands clenched the side rails of the hospital bed, looking over his eldest's body. He tried not to grimace, but he couldn't really help it. Bruises and cuts covered his arms and neck, results of the glass becoming embedded in his skin after being thrown against the Impala's window. Miles and miles worth of bandages wrapped around his chest, trying to hold together his rib cage. Almost irreparable damage to his heart they had said. Probably wouldn't ever live the same again.

'Dad, don't you do this. Don't you let it kill me.'

He was so weak. The demon, the monster he had been chasing his whole life, had taken over his body and he didn't have the strength to fight off the possession. He was unable to keep the damn thing from using him to hurt his boy. He felt the demons power course through him and then into Dean, ripping his muscles, cracking the ribs protecting his fragile heart. And then when it had reached its destination it was like he felt his own hand clawing his way into his son's chest cavity, trying to rip his heart out.

He had hurt him badly, so so badly.

And not just physically either. He was there the whole time, felt the poisonous words slip past his lips and into his eldest's ears. They weren't true of course. How could they possibly be? Not need him? Impossible. He wouldn't be able to function without Dean there. He knew it was the same for Sam. Dean was a third of the entire family; he was a piece of the puzzle that made up the Winchesters.

He never was able to express to his boys how much they meant to him, but they were his whole world.

And when Dean woke up he was going to prove it to them. No more leaving them alone, wondering where he was or even whether he was alive or dead. It had killed him to do that to Dean the first time. Abandon him like that, no call or note. But he had caught wind of the demon's plans, knew what it wanted with Sam, and even then he knew he had to separate their already separated family.

It was for their own protection dammit!

John had to laugh a little bit then into the bleak and silent room, of course Dean and Sam had found him. Or rather he had found them, but none the less, he should have known that that would have been the outcome of his attempt to distance them. Really, no matter the time they would always found their way back together. So when they had to separate for the second time, this time with strict orders to stay away, it had nearly broken his heart.

And yet again his boys came through for him. But then that bastard had taken over his body and used his own meat suit to harm the most precious people in the world to him.

He might not go off alone this time, but he sure as heck was going to make that demon pay.

'Hey Dad.' John looked up to see Sam enter the room with a couple of cups of coffee. He glanced at the bed, a little bit hopefully, to see if there was any possible way that Dean had awakened in the two minutes he had been gone. He slouched back down again, his tall stature sinking into the other chair pulled up next to the bed. Setting his own steaming cup onto the bedside table he handed the other cup to John, who accepted it gratefully.

'Sam, I think you need to go get some sleep.' John was serious; his boy had deep circles under his eyes. His shaggy hair was even more of a mess than usual, sticking up everywhere. He hadn't been outside in three days except to grab some salt from John's truck, which Bobby had kind enough to drive over there for him.

'No. I'm staying here.' John just sighed and didn't argue. As a matter of fact he and Sam hadn't argued once since they had been here. The universe would be shocked. John knew good and well how much eh and Sam were alike. Both stubborn and thinking that their way was the right way. Made him a bit proud when Sam would stand up to him, annoying as hell, but none the less a little bit happy. Dean had been their peace maker. Took after his mother in that respect. But now that he wasn't awake it was up to he and Sam to shut up and be good adults. It was a welcome change although John would trade anything for it to be different as the cause for their mutual truce was comatose at the moment.

'What are we going to do? It's been three days and there's been nothing new.'

'We wait. Least that's what the doctors are telling me. Although I will slug the next one that tells me to "just give it some time". Stupid snobby doctors.'

Sam snorted. 'Yeah, we never did trust the doctor's opinions did we? But that's not what I meant. I mean, me and Dean did find that faith healer that one time. What about a supernatural cure?'

'Yeah, I remember you telling me about that. Wasn't it cause of a deranged preacher's wife controlling a reaper who was using him for her benefits?'

'Well, yeah, but-'

'It wouldn't happen again Sam. That chance alone was one in a million.'

'Then what are we supposed to do!'

John looked grimly down at Dean and then back up at Sam. 'Don't worry I think I got a plan.' One which involved summoning a certain bastard demon and bargaining for Dean's life.

'Plan? What kind of plan?'

'I'll let you know if it works out.'

'But-'

'Excuse me gentlemen?' A nurse peered into the doorway of the tiny room and looked them over.

'We have to change Dean's IV, and do a few more tests, so if you could step out of the room for just an hour or so, it would be great.'

'Can't we stay in here?' Sam asked his eyes wide and brows furrowed together at the thought of leaving his brother.

The nurse shook her head sympathetically. 'I'm sorry, you can't. Hospital regulations. Tell you what though, you two should check out this great diner down the street, get yourselves a nice warm meal. I know you have got to be sick of the cafeteria food by now.'

Sam smiled a little at that and looked at his dad. John nodded his head and they grabbed their coats and left. But not before giving Dean another glance, as if this time they would see him looking back at them instead of just lying there. No such luck.

'Alright we're out of here. But we are gonna be back in no less than one hour.' John stumbled into his commanding tone towards the end, sounding like a drill sergeant.

The nurse smiled and gave a mock salute. 'Sir, yes sir.'

'See, why can't you do that to me, every once in a while?' John said to Sam as they walked down the hallway.

'Because it would be weird?'

'Yeah gotta agree with you there.'

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'So I was in the hospital after the crash and I was in a coma? Am I caught up so far?'

John and Sam both nodded grimly. It was very dark outside now, the sun completely set and the moon was high in the sky. Dean sighed looking up and then rubbed a hand down over his face.

'Well what happened next?' Dean jumped a little bit when he heard Tish's voice, because honestly he had forgotten that they were there. He looked at his three friends and had to smile at the sight of them sitting on the curb next to the Impala. It was a meeting of his two worlds that he had thought would never occur.

He frowned a little bit then, unsure of what to do, or say to them. They would obviously want to know the rest of the story, heck so would he. But how was he going to explain when monsters or demons came up? His friends were sharp, and care-driven nosey, he knew they would find out about him eventually. As a matter of fact he suspected Zo may have known what he was the whole time. Should he tell them or shouldn't he? To quote a long dead English dude, that was the freaking question.

'It's getting a little bit late, and this doesn't really seem to be the place to talk about this. Why don't you come with us back to the motel?'

Ah, thank God Sammy knew when to give him an opportunity to slip away. But still he wasn't sure he wanted to go with them, well actually he really really wanted to go with them. He wanted to hug them and talk to them and demand the answers to all the questions he had been unable to ask of them the past two years. He freaking missed them. But in the end, he didn't think he could ever forget these last two years either. He looked at his friends again, and then back at his family. Finally he sighed.

'How about a compromise? We head back to the shop and talk there. I'm sure Trucker would let me lock up tonight.'

His dad looked like he was about to protest but then Sam cut in. 'Yeah sure, sounds good.'

'Alright then, let's go.'

The group all made it back to the shop in the Impala after they managed to squeeze into it, despite the fact that it was only supposed to seat five.

'Why the heck are you driving this old car around? Its gotta be like a hundred years old, or something.' Tish asked while wedged between Jen and Piper in the back seat.

'Hey! Do not talk about my baby like that!' Dean turned around from where he was basically sitting on Sam's lap in the front seat.

'Whoa, whoa touchy.' She held up her hands in mock surrender, actually kinda surprised by the vehemence in his voice.

'You do not want to mock Dean's car. You might be liable to lose a limb if you do.' Sam stated wisely. Dean nodded his head in agreement.

'Did you just call the car 'baby'?' Piper asked with an eyebrow raised.

Sam let out a little chuckle. 'If it were legal to marry a car Dean would have done it a long time ago.'

'No I wouldn't have! I just happen to appreciate the beauty that is this car.'

Tish seemed to grumble under her breath something about him definitely being a freak. But he chose to ignore it. 'So what kind of car is it anyway?'

'1967 Chevy Impala.' Jen answered.

Everyone just turned to look at her and stared. She shrugged her shoulders. 'What? I happen to love cars.'

'Jen. Marry me.' Dean said as they finally pulled up to the shop.

Jen laughed and shook her head.

'As if she ever could marry you. Her head's too full of fuzzzy.'

Sam looked back at Jen as he got out of the car. 'Her head is. . . .full of fuzzy?'

Piper laughed at his confused expression. 'It's the name of a guy she has been talking to online.'

'Oh.'

'Omigosh!' Was heard from inside the shop where Tish had entered first. 'Trucker! What happened?'

Dean and Sam looked at each other and then ran inside. 'What's going on?'

Trucker was sitting in one of the booths holding a wet cloth to his head which appeared to be bleeding. Tish was examining him, poking and prodding the cut that was on his head gently. She looked up at them apprehensively and then at the rest of the group that came rushing in.

Piper looked concerned at the condition Trucker was in and gasped. 'What happened Trucker? Were you robbed?'

Trucker just waved a hand at them and smiled at them, trying to calm everyone down. 'I'm fine, I'm fine. And no we didn't get robbed. He just happened to introduce me to his forehead.' He pointed to behind them.

Everyone turned around to look at John as he walked in, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. 'Uh, yeah. That was me. No harm done right?'

Trucker removed the rag and looked at it as a little dribble of blood escaped the scrape on his head. 'Yeah, no permanent damage.'

'What the heck? What do you mean he 'introduced' you to his forehead?' Jen asked incredulously.

'He head butted him.' Sam and Dean answered in unison.

'And that was kinda creepy.'

'What was?' they both asked again at the same time towards Tish.

'That. Do you guys usually talk in unison?'

'No.' They said it again together and then glared at each other.

'Weird.' She muttered under her breath as she went back to trying to find a first aid kit.

'Why the heck did you head butt him?' Piper asked from across the room, now a little bit wary of John.

He just shrugged. What could he really say? 'He wouldn't let me leave or get out of my way, so I made him.'

'You know normal people use words to settle their problems not violence.'

'We're not normal.' He answered with a somewhat hard smile.

'Priestly wouldn't have used violence.' Tish stated confidently.

Sam tried to hold in the laughter that was trying to escape him but ultimately failed. 'Ah ha ha, man are you serious!'

'Wait, whose Priestly?' John asked with confusion.

'Dean is.'

'No he would not! You wouldn't hurt someone, would you Priestly?'

Jen, Piper, and Trucker all lifted their heads at the question and stared when he took a little too long to answer. 'Well, self defense?'

'Yeah?' Trucker asked, with his eyebrow raised. Was Priestly saying he was a fighting type, because he honestly couldn't imagine it. The kid was the most laid back person he knew, never letting anything bother him, or get under his skin. Going with the flow seemed to be his life's motto. But then again, what did he really know about him?

He showed up about two years ago, Mohawk and eyeliner firmly in place. He had just walked in one day, took a seat in the booth furthest in the back with his back against the wall so he was able to watch the door. He had looked pale and shaky and Trucker had first assumed he must have been some kind of druggie. He hadn't ordered anything, just sat there tapping his fingers, looking at the cell phone clutched in his hand, fingers wavering over the buttons. A couple of times it looked like he was about to call someone but each time he would slam it shut and put it back in his pocket. He repeated the process the entire time he was there.

Tish and Jen had noticed the strange man in the corner of the store and glanced at Trucker but since he didn't say anything they just went back to their work.

Closing time soon approached, and the young man had fallen asleep, his arms folded beneath his head. And Trucker had to admit it made him look a lot better, no more shakiness and he looked peaceful. Tish had gone over and gently shook his shoulder. That's when things got messy.

'NO!' The guy had shouted and fell out of his seat landed on his butt, and he must not have been fully aware of where he was because he quickly scrambled backwards until his back hit the wall.

'Whoa, hey, hey, uh. . . .Trucker!'

Trucker had come out from behind the counter and pushing Tish behind him examined the boy in front of him on the floor. Jen was watching the events from behind the computer with a wide gaze.

'Hey buddy?'

The guy's eyes had snapped towards his , vibrant green eyes wide with panic locking onto his own. His eyes roved around the store not landing on anything in particular, his breaths coming in harsh pants. It seemed like he was about to go into a full panic attack mode.

'No…'

The plea was uttered so pitifully that it broke his heart to hear it.

'Hey kid?'

Finally a bit of life sparked back into his eyes and he finally returned to reality. He let out a long breath and then glanced down at himself noticing his position on the floor.

'You alright?'

'Uh. . . . .yeah, yeah, sorry about that. Um. . . . sorry. Sorry.'

'It's okay. Listen you just fell asleep, and we're closing up now.'

He looked down at his jeans and then started to get up. 'Right. Right, uh, sorry. I'll go now.'

'It's okay.' Trucker said once again, noticing how much he was apologizing, saying he was sorry excessively.

'Uh, yeah.' He answered distractedly as he walked out of the store. Tish, Jen, and Trucker all looked at each other in shock, wondering what the heck had just happened.

'Well, that was weird.' Tish commented into the silence.

'I wonder what was wrong with him?'

'Who knows?' Trucker answered.

They had closed up pretty quickly after that, Trucker being the last to leave. Making sure the door was locked behind him he had gone behind the shop where his car was in the parking lot. He got out his keys ready to go home when he heard a noise from behind him. Fearing a mugger he gripped the knife he kept on him at all times. He may not want to remember the things he did in 'nam, but his training had never left him.

He turned around quickly he scanned his surroundings but didn't see anyone. He took a hesitant step towards his truck when he heard it again. It sounded like someone sniffling.

'Hello?' He called softly but received no answer. Still, he could plainly hear someone crying and he wasn't about to leave when someone might be in trouble. He walked towards the direction of the noise and ended up beside the graffiti covered dumpster. He looked over and saw the same guy from earlier sitting there in a crouch, his hands covering his ears. His eyes were squeezed shut tight, and he kept muttering shut up.

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

'Hey kid?'

Suddenly he gasped and looked up. He saw the recognition from seeing him earlier and he looked back down.

'Sorry. Sorry. . . I . .uh, um. Sorry.'

'It's alright.' Trucker was starting to doubt his earlier assumptions of drug addict and was leaning more towards schizophrenic.

'I'll leave.' He got up wearily and used the dumpster to help himself up.

'Uh, wait!'

He stopped and turn to look back at him listlessly. 'Yeah?'

'You uh. . .you got anybody you can call kid?'

He just shook his head morosely.

'You got a place to stay?'

Again it was another negative shake of his head.

Trucker sighed. He felt like he was going to regret this. 'Come on. You're going home with me.'

And the rest was history. He stayed a few days, immediately going to work in the shop, and had integrated to effortlessly into all of their lives.

'You can fight?' Tish asked dubiously.

'Uh, yeah?'

She nodded, and looked him up and down. 'Cool.'

Suddenly her eyes lit up and she turned towards him with a smile. 'Does this mean you have abs!'

'Huh? Uh, yeah, I guess I do?'

'Shirt off.' She stated seriously. Jen and Piper looked up in interest. Sure they had all gone to the beach together at one point or another, but Priestly always kept his shirt on.

'What?'

Sam was laughing in the corner at Dean's expression but sobered up pretty quickly when Tish looked at him with that same face she had given him earlier. 'That means you too, big boy.'

'Naw, that's okay.'

'No, I'm serious. I wanna see if you have a six pack.'

'I do have a six pack. So does Sam. Doesn't mean we're going to show you.'

'You know what I don't think you do. And that's why you won't show me.' She finished putting up the rest of the bandages and closed the first aid kit.

'What? That's it.' Almost angrily he took his shirt off and lifted up his arms. 'BEHOLD!'

Dean did have a nice six pack. Completely muscular, not at all what you would expect from the deceptively skinny guy with a Mohawk, who would occasionally wear a kilt.

Sam shook his head at how easily Dean was manipulated into doing something when he felt something tugging at his shirt. Dean pulled up his shirt, showing off Sam's stomach.

'And behold again!'

'Dean!' He hastily pulled his shirt down, but not before noticing how all the girls eyes were roaming over him and his brother's bodies.

'Say, you're really tall. Nice and big.' Tish was once again up in his space while Piper was rolling her eyes in the background. She had to give Tish props for persistency.

'Yeah?'

'Are you. . . .big. . .anywhere else?'

'Okay! We are shutting down this conversation right now!' Dean shouted while Sam was blushing profusely. He honestly had never met someone who was so forward before.

'Tish.' Dean pointed at her. 'You are not allowed to hit on my little brother. I really don't think he can handle it. Alright?'

While he was a wee bit offended at being told he couldn't 'handle it', he was relieved when Tish grumbled out a 'fine'.

Everyone talked for a little bit, Trucker and John finding out they served on the same tour to Vietnam made them much more companionable than their first encounter. Eventually though Trucker started to hint at needing to get home. The girls reluctantly leaving one by one. Tish on a date, Piper to hang with Noah and Julia, and Jen to continue her online conversation with Fuzzzy.

Trucker handed the keys to Priestly or Dean as he guessed he would have to start calling him, trusting him to lock up the shop. Hoping he could get some answers and praying everything went alright. Really, it wasn't every day your brother and father come back into your life after a two year hiatus.

He looked back into the window one last time before getting in his car. Dean was seated in the middle booth with his brother sitting across from him, laughing at something he had said. Their dad was standing in the middle of the shop watching them, and even from that distance he could see the smile directed at them.

He turned the key in his ignition, and really, really wished everything was going to turn out okay.

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Dean sat in the booth with Sam across from him and his father standing beside them. They had started off by not talking about anything in particular. Just meaningless chatter designed to fill the silence until the big guns were brought out. He had been happy to just continue the denying the inevitable questions, but he knew it wouldn't last forever. He didn't want to answer their questions, and even though he was dying to know what happened from their perspective he still feared what they were going to say.

He full well knew that talking things out weren't really in the Winchester blood, well, excluding Sam, but this was one instance where the Dr. Phil/Oprah moment wasn't going to disappear. He only hoped it didn't turn into more a Jerry Springer show in the end.

'So, uh, what's with the new look?' Sam finally asked, gesturing to his hair and the piercings. It was one of the stranger things about this experience, y'know, besides the whole finding your long lost brother after a couple years. Not what he noticed right away, but still pretty high up on the list.

'And when did you get that tattoo?' John asked with a bit of disapproval in his voice. He knew Dean knew better than to get something so recognizable, but wouldn't say anything about it because honestly, he was just happy knowing Dean was alive.

Dean sighed. Of course that would be the thing his dad would notice. He had spent his whole life training his sons, teaching them to blend in. The basic rules of camouflage were this: don't be extravagant, don't be loud, and never get any distinguishing marks which you can be identified by. This of course meant tattoos…and piercings…and pretty much everything he was wearing right now.

'Uh, I got it about two years ago.' Dean touched his tattoo nervously, a habit he had acquired about a year and a half ago.

'Right after you went missing?' John wondered why in the world the first thing someone would do after being separated from their family was to get a tattoo?

'I guess. Not right after, maybe a month later. I was by myself, and I wanted some protection.'

'What do you mean?'

Dean tugged his shirt collar down a little bit and turned his head to the side exposing his neck. 'It's got a protection symbol hidden in it.'

Sam leaned forward a little bit and attentively traced the tattoo with the tips of his fingers. He could see it now that Dean had pointed it out. It was a smart idea, one that both he and his Dad would have to try out. Especially after the results of John's possession. A tattooed symbol could have prevented so much, and he was of proud of Dean for coming up with such a clever idea.

'Neat. I'll have to get me one sometime.'

'Really?' Dean was a little bit surprised. Sam had never seemed like the type to get a tattoo. Then again one wouldn't think he was the type to wear a kilt.

'Yeah.'

'So protection symbol huh? What about the all the rest of the stuff?' John looked pointedly at his brightly colored hair and multiple piercings. 'Does eyeliner scare off ghosts nowadays?'

Dean just rolled his eyes at that and looked out the window. Sam noticed a change in his brother's posture, it had become a little bit more tense. There was a reason behind the way Dean dressed now, but Sam couldn't really figure out why. Okay, it was a teensy bit weird to be seeing his brother that used to have a leather jacket, t-shirts, and jeans as his typical apparel sporting such outrageous accessories but it didn't really bother him. Appearances weren't really that important after he had gotten his big brother back.

'Just, I guess no one ever expected me to do something like this. So I did.' Dean was telling the complete truth. After the realization that he was alone, or at least he thought he had been alone, guess he would have to find out, came a desire to rebel. To act out against his father and all of his stupid rules. He had seen the way his dad had looked at the punks and Goths and typical 'freaks' as they were growing up with slight disdain. He supposed his outfit was a way of sticking it to the man.

And over time he really came to enjoy his unconventional attire. He liked getting up every morning and deciding which eye catching color and style would be his choice for the day. And he could take as much time as he wanted to do it too. Trucker wasn't all that big on schedules, and let him come and go as he pleased. That was another thing as well, following orders. Here he had none. It was almost a shock after a lifetime of being told what to do, and he actually kinda missed it. Well, not the orders themselves really, but the person who issued them.

'Well, uh, it's certainly interesting.'

'Funny, never thought my hair would be longer than your shaggy mop.' Dean smirked at him and playfully ruffled his hair. Sam swatted away his hand with a laugh.

'Hey you cannot say anything to me now that your resemble a toucan.'

Dean raised an eyebrow. 'A toucan? Really?'

'Yeah, really.'

Dean looked at the both of them and then back down at the table. 'So, we going to continue our little tale? Or what?' He asked warily.

John looked back over at him and sighed. He didn't want to do this. He hated remembering what had happened, hated to feel that panic, that fear as if it had happened yesterday. But his boy wanted answers, and he deserved them. Especially because Dean seemed to think he had been abandoned.

Which was in actuality the farthest thing from the truth.

John walked over to the booth and gestured for Sam to scoot over and slid in next to him. He rested his hands on the table forcing them to not tap the hard wood agitatedly.

'Well, we went to go eat and wash up. . . .'

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two Years Ago. . .

John and Sam sat in the booth of the busy little diner that the nurse had suggested to them. Of course they had first gotten a room and cleaned up. Staying in the same clothes for three days kind of tends to make you a wee bit rank. So it was the showers and then food. Sam had to admit that he felt a lot better after washing up and Dad had finally trimmed his beard down a bit, making him resemble a lumberjack that had fallen out of a tree a little less.

'What can I get you boys?' A cheerful waitress asked them. She was pretty, had short strawberry blonde hair and heart shaped lips. If Dean were awake and here he would have already started flirting, giving her that million dollar smile.

'Just the special please.'

'Same here.' John said as he handed their menus back to her.

'Anything to drink?' She asked as she hastily scribbled down their orders.

'Coffee. Black.'

'And an orange juice for me.' He could use the sugar.

'Alrighty then, coming right up.'

John and Sam both watched the waitress walk away and then looked at each other.

John grinned. 'If Dean were here. . .'

'They would already be in the back closet.' Sam finished.

John laughed at that. 'Yeah.'

Sam sobered up and said seriously. 'He's gonna get better.'

'Yeah, I know he is. Boy's stubborn. Ain't no way he's gonna give up on us.' He prayed not.

They both sat there for a few minutes in silence just listening to the hustle and bustle around them. Their waitress who had introduced herself as Gini brought them their food quickly and they both dived in. It was amazing how when in the hospital the last thing on Sam's minds had been food, so preoccupied with his brother he didn't possess much of an appetite. But the second he walked out of those doors hunger had hit him full force. So he pretty much inhaled his pancakes and scrambled eggs, barely pausing for breath.

John was pretty much the same way, although he had slightly different reasons for enjoying his meal so much. In his mind it was going to be his last one.

The second he and Sam got back to the hospital he was going to summon the demon and make a deal. Well first he would sit down with Dean and pray that he could somehow hear him, and tell him how much he loved him, how much he had needed him. Make sure he understood that.

But as it was he was pretty sure Dean wouldn't be able to hear a darn thing. Definitely couldn't hurt to try.

Then he would tell Sam he loved him and how proud he was of him. He chuckled a bit, only imagining the expression that would cross his youngest's face. He was proud of him, for going to college, for making it on his own. Was pissed as one could possibly be, and wanted to throttle the boy for doing it, but proud none the less.

He would make sure Sam would be with Dean when he woke up and then he would go down into the basement.

A few lines drawn, a couple of candles, and a simple amount of words uttered in Latin, it was almost laughable at how easy it was to summon a demon. The bastard would appear and then the bargaining would begin.

He'd offer him the Colt, knowing it wouldn't be enough. That was the thing about bargaining, in any situation, make sure you always offer less than what you really want. Kept the stakes from getting to high. The demon of course would refuse such a simple fare, and that's when he would offer his soul.

He knew the demon would want it, knew exactly what would be going through the demon's head. John Winchester was a stubborn SOB, and would never stop hunting him as long as he was alive. Not so much life threatening as it was annoying, but still a chance to get him out of the way? Tempting. And he would accept.

He had it all planned out. He would die and Dean would live. Would have a life and would carry out his legacy.

That had been the plan.

Of course things hadn't worked out.

He and Sam arrived back at the hospital looking better than they had in days. John still walked with a limp but refused any cane or crutch. Stubborn to a fault. And Sam still had the dark circles under his eyes but he looked a lot less weary.

They got into the elevator and rode it up to the fourth floor stepping out of the doors when they opened to the chaos of people running around. Sam and John glanced at each other and shrugged their shoulders, wondering what was going on. Nurses and orderlies walked quickly by them asking random people questions and checking the broom closets?

They were a little weirded out by the hospital's behavior but didn't start to worry until they saw that all the flurry of activity seemed to come from Dean's room.

'Dean.' Sam whispered and then started to run towards his room. Don't be dead, he chanted in his mind as his slipped past the multitude of people surrounding the doorway. Don't be, don't be dead, don't be dead.

What he did see puzzled him. He looked in the doorway and saw a hospital bed, the sheets mussed with people surrounding it.

Empty.

No Dean.

'Sam? What is it?' John came up behind his son and looked at the room as well. All of the doctors, nurses, and security personal grew quiet when they saw the Winchesters enter the room. But John wasn't looking at them or paying any of them attention. He was fixated on the decidedly lack of Dean in the room.

'Where is he?' He barely whispered finally turning to the hospital staff.

Dean's head doctor approached him cautiously. 'Um, Mr. Winchester to be honest we were hoping you could tell us.'

'What do you mean?' He demanded harshly.

'Sir, your son's missing.'

'What?' He managed to get out through clenched teeth.

'When you and your other son left earlier we ran a few tests on Dean, and then left. We weren't gone more than five minutes Mr. Winchester. But we when we came back in to check on his vitals the bed was empty.'

'He was in a coma! Where the hell is he?'

The doctor winced at his loud voice but took a deep breath and prepared to speak again. 'Well, we originally thought that he just woken up, and was disoriented, confused at his surroundings and tried to find his family. We immediately sent everyone around the hospital to look for him. That's what we were doing when you got back. But to be honest it's been over forty five minutes since then and there is still no sign of him.'

'So you're telling me, after I leave my boy's side after three days for the first time, that you idiots managed to lose him, an unconscious patient, after five minutes!'

'Uh. Well..we-'

'Save it.' John practically spat at him. 'So my boy is missing? Any of you airheads think of checking the security tapes?'

'Actually we were just about to do that.' The doctor replied a bit timidly. To be honest he was out of his element. He had dealt with pushy family member and concerned loved ones, but none of his patients had disappeared out from under his nose before!

'Alright then, let's go.'

Sam, John, the doctor and the security guard were all crowded into the little room where a line of televisions were on the wall.

'Okay. He went disappearing about an hour ago right?' The technician asked them.

'Yes.'

'Okay, I'm just gonna back it up a little bit farther than that.'

The image on the screen showed the hallway leading down the fourth floor to Dean's room in black and white. The figures were all moving rapidly in reverse and then stopped when the play button was pushed. Dean's door was the third one down and it showed a nurse stepping out of it, a chart in hand.

'Whose that?' John asked.

'Lisa, she was just drawing some blood for tests.'

Nothing happened for a while. It was just silent images of people walking up and down the hallway, patients, doctors, and visiting family members. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then it seemed almost at once that all of the people disappeared, trickling frpm the area as they all had something different to do.

'That wasn't weird.' Sam muttered.

His gaze on the empty corridor grabbed onto a lonely figure that entered the silent scene. It was just a janitor though. An older man with light hair, from what he could gather from the grainy black and white image. He wore a blue uniform and was pushing a dirty mop cart sluggishly, as if he had all the time in the world. He shuffled along and stopped the cart in front of Dean's door almost lazily. Suddenly the man looked up at the camera, almost as if he knew someone were watching him and smiled. Lifting the mop from the cart he wringed the water out and started to clean the floor, getting closer and closer to Dean's room. Eventually he opened the door and walked in.

'Are they allowed to do that?'

The doctor shook his head. 'No, they aren't supposed to clean a comatose patient's room until the patient is gone.'

The door shut ominously behind the janitor without a sound to follow it. Suddenly the video stopped and the screen filled with fuzzy static.

'What happened? What's up with the video?' Sam asked a little apprehensively.

'I don't know.' The tech guy's brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to replay it back and get an image. He did it a couple of times but no dice. 'It shouldn't be doing this.'

'You do this for a living don't you? Fix the damn thing!'

'I'm trying.' He stressed.

Finally he just had to let it play through to see if anything else came up. After a minute or two the static was gone and the video came back. They saw the janitor walk out of the room and he seemed to be in a cheerful mood and whistling a tune. He put his hands into his pockets and almost happily he wheeled his mop cart away.

'Find out who that man is.' John immediately demanded of the security guard, who nodded and hurried away to do his bidding.

John grabbed Sam's arm, dragged him out of the room, and down the hallway. He looked around making sure no one was around before leaning in closer to Sam.

'So, now we know something took him.'

'Yeah, I never really thought Dean would have woken up on his own so abruptly like that, and then just wandered a hospital. You have any ideas?'

John sighed. 'I think I may have a clue. But we're gonna have to get another look at those tapes again.'

'Alright. Let's go get 'em.'

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'There.' John pointed at the paused tape. 'You see?'

Sam let his breath escape his mouth in a hiss. 'Yeah I see.'

The image showed the janitor that had entered Dean's room when he was smiling up at the camera, and Sam couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it earlier. The eyes that were staring at him were yellow. Even though the tapes were completely in black and white the bright color seemed to bleed through in a sickening shade of sulfur.

'That sonuvabitch! What did he do with Dean?' Sam yelled at no one in particular in the quiet motel room.

'I don't know.' John's face hardened. 'But I sure as hell am going to find out.'

That whole night John and Sam replayed the tapes, searching for a clue to where Dean might have gone. Sam scoured the web, taking in even the tiniest bit of information hoping to get closer to Dean. John called all of his hunter buddies, while Sam called Missouri. None of them had heard a thing, or had a clue as to where the missing Winchester boy might be.

All promised to keep an eye out though for any demonic activity or if word reached them of the lost Winchester.

The next day was much the same. They went back to the hospital to check things out again although the place would have called them had anything come up. John went up to where Dean's room was and already found it occupied by another person. He tried not to notice how his heart clenched at the thought of how easily Dean's presence in the hospital had been replaced.

'Hey Dad.' Sam beckoned him over to the door where he pointed to the handle, a yellowish powder covering his fingertips. 'Sulfur.'

'I thought as much.' John stated grimly. 'Damn that bastard! And I was going to make sure he didn't hurt Dean again!'

Sam looked up at him sharply. 'What do you mean?'

John sighed. There really was no reason not to tell Sam what he had been planning on doing now. He had even tried to summon the demon last night when Sam had finally fallen asleep, was going to demand him to give him back his son, bargaining be damned! But he hadn't showed. He chanted the Latin until his voice was hoarse and the candles were nothing more than piles of wax. Nothing. The damn thing was ignoring him.

'I was gonna make a deal with him.' Sam's eyes widened at his confession. 'I was going to give him the Colt and my soul in exchange for Dean to wake up.'

'What? Are you insane! In what universe was that going to turn out alright in!'

'Don't you raise your voice at me Sam! I was going to do what was right for Dean!'

'Oh so now you're thinking about what is right for Dean!'

John's jaw clenched as he and Sam faced off. 'What is that supposed to mean?' He said in low voice full of silent fury.

'What I mean is when have you ever given a damn about what Dean wants, huh? It was always, do this Dean! Do that! Follow my stupid freaking orders! And he did, he did all of that without complaint, not once! And what did you do? You freaking abandoned him!'

'Well, you abandoned him first!'

Sam flinched as he had been hit but he visibly shrugged it off, and jutted his jaw forward. 'I. . .did not abandon Dean. I went to college. I lived a normal life four years. And do you know what Dean was doing while I was happy? Traveling with you. Well, at first. I know you stared to leave him alone more and more. Barely saw him more than twice in six months, always texting those stupid coordinates. And then you dropped off the face of the earth without a word! That is a big freaking difference!'

'You don't know a damn thing Samuel Winchester! I did it to protect you boys!'

'Yeah, and that turned out sooo well!'

'Uh sir. . .?'

'WHAT!' Both shouted at the nurse who had taken notice of their shouting match in the middle of the hallway.

'You're gonna have to take your argument somewhere else please.' The nurse glared at them. 'There are people that are sick here. And you're little tiff isn't helping them get better.'

John didn't answer her, just walked out of the hospital with Sam on his heels. They arrived back at the motel after making a visit to the police station where they answered as many questions as they could with their limited knowledge and cautious ways. Not much information could be provided when you were using fake IDs and already knew who the culprit was. And they were pretty sure that a cop wouldn't know to do with a demon as a criminal. Especially considering the janitor lead had been a dead end. Of course he had disappeared, and there was no record of a man matching the description of the janitor ever having worked there. Typical.

John and Sam had all sorts of papers tacked to the wall, pieces of strings connecting various clues as to where Dean could be. And for two weeks they stayed at that motel, barely going out except for food and the library. During that time they barely spoke to each other although it wasn't out of anger. The anger had sort of burned away, leaving only worry and frustration.

It had been so silent in fact that when John's phone started to ring fourteen days after Dean's disappearance that they both jumped, John's arm automatically going to the handgun in his jeans and Sam's for the knife strapped to his ankle.

Ring. . . .Ring. . .

John and Sam seemed to realize what it was at the same time and John brought it hastily to his ear.

'Winchester.' John's eyes widened and Sam found himself leaning a little bit closer. 'Where? Alright. Thanks.' John slammed the phone shut and immediately started to take the papers off of the wall.

'Dad?'

'There's some demonic activity going down in Maine.' He said as he continued to clean up their motel room, erasing every evidence of their stay there.

Sam started to pack his stuff as well, just as eager to get on the road as John. 'Could Dean be. . ?'

'I don't know. But why don't we go find out?'

Sam nodded as they walked out of the door and towards the truck, not once looking back.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'And so that's what we did for the past two years, looking for you, hunting occasionally, trying to find the demon.' Sam finished up for the both of them.

Dean just stared at the both of them, eyes wide, and trying to put his mask back in place. That's what had happened? But.. .but they had said, they told him-

He could barely wrap his head around it. So he disappeared from his room and Dad and Sam had been looking for him this whole time? What were they thinking? Why hadn't they just let him stay gone?

Also. . .

Dean looked at his Dad who was staring right back at him.

'Dad?'

'Yeah?'

Suddenly Dean's fist lashed out and got John right across the jaw, making him land on the floor. Dean was standing over him, breathing heavily and shaking out the pain in his hand while Sam looked on with wide eyes.

John rubbed his aching jaw, 'What the hell was that for Dean!'

'What do you think?' Dean shouted right back at him.

John just looked at him quizzically. He was honestly was confused and had no idea what Dean was talking about.

'You were gonna give up the Colt! You were gonna sell you soul to a demon! You were gonna trade your life for mine?' Dean was furious. How could his Dad have been planning to do that to him?

'What the hell were you thinking? How were you gonna explain that? Huh?'

'Dean. I just didn't want you to die-'

'And you think I wanted you to!'

'No. I just-'

'You know what. Forget it. It's in the past.' Dean seemed to deflate then and offered his hand to his Dad who, surprisingly, accepted it. There was no use looking back, and one could only move forward in life. There was no point to what if's and coulda beens.

'We good?' John asked.

'Yeah, we're good.'

'Alright then.'

It got awkwardly quiet really quickly which was broken by Sam yawning.

'Aw, did Sammy miss his naptime?' Dean teased him.

'Shut up Dean. We've been driving for two days and haven't really had a chance to hit the sack yet.' My gosh Sam was a grumpy little one when deprived of sleep.

'You guys were here on a case?' That was weird. He usually kept an eye out for hunts around here. Trying to keep his other work close to home.

John shook his head. 'Passing through. But I'm thinking I'll just get Bobby to take care of it now.'

'Why?'

'Well, because-'

'I still hunt you know. I could help you guys out.'

'You do?' Sam asked incredulously. "How do you have the time to?'

Dean smiled. 'Well Trucker is pretty lenient went it comes to the work schedule. Very lenient. And all of this stuff I'm wearing can be removed. So no big deal.'

'Huh.'

'Anyways. I'm thinking this has been a long day, and I really want to go to bed. You guys have a room yet?'

'Well, we were about to get one.'

'Forget that. Just come stay at my place?'

'You. . . .have a place?' Sam asked dubiously. Out of the three of them the one least likely to ever own a home in his mind had been Dean.

Dean smiled brightly. 'Yeah. It's awesome.' Obvious pride filled his voice. 'So you coming or what?'

Sam grinned at his Dad. 'Well it sure beats motel rooms with questionable substances on them. Though I'm thinking that maybe yours won't be much better.'

'Shut up.'

 

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Across the street from the closed sandwich shop a man stood smoking a cigarette. He glanced at the new agey type shop next to him and shook his head at the various talismans and dram catchers being advertised that claimed to keep away evil spirits. Humans really had no idea did they?

His yellow gaze was once again drawn to the three men sitting in the booth, in the dimly lit building. His jaw clenched as he spotted the one with ostentatious hair-do and multiple piercings.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Sighing he let out a breath, smoke escaping his lungs. Really, how annoying. He shook his head in disbelief at the sheer uselessness of his lackeys. If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself.

He looked once more at the reunited family and glared. Dropping his spent smoke to the ground he stomped on it, and started to walk away.

He would remedy this mistake soon enough.


	5. Chapter 5

'Alright, home sweet home.' Dean said as he entered his apartment.

'It's. . . .nice?' Sam said as he and his Dad walked in.

Dean raised his eyebrows at Sam's reaction and then laughed. 'Yeah, it's kinda weird how habits seem to never die. I don't know made me feel more comfortable I guess.'

Sam just nodded. Dean's apartment was small but clean. Extraordinarily clean. As in barely any furniture. There was a bean bag in the living room area, an X-box, and a TV. Everything was a beige color. Really bland and plain.

Connected to the little area was a kitchenette. A refrigerator and a microwave. That was it. No other appliances. A door was in the back of the kitchen leading to what Sam guessed was Dean's bedroom. There was a car magazine on the island of the kitchen and a picture on the fridge but no other personal items could be found. All in all the word Sam would use to describe Dean's living accommodations would be. . . .sparse.

Very, very sparse.

'It's. . . clean.'

'Go ahead and say it Sammy. It looks like someone doesn't even live here right?'

'Yeah I guess you could say that.'

Dean chuckled at that. 'Yeah that was sorta the point.'

'It was?' Sam asked confused.

John looked at Dean and clapped him on the shoulder. 'That's my boy. I knew you'd keep up some of your training.'

'What? I don't get it?'

'He's talking about how's there is no personal items around here. Like if I had to run out of town no one would find anything on me if there were to search the apartment.'

'Oh.'

Dean waved them over to the kitchen. 'Come on.' He opened the fridge and pulled out three beers. 'Figured you'd want some after not getting any at the shop.'

Sam took his gratefully while John immediately opened his and started to guzzle. 'Ah, that hit the spot.' He said with a sigh.

'Good to know.' Dean said with a bit of a small smile. He looked over at his family sitting in his kitchen once again getting hit with the powerful sense of two separate worlds colliding. Just as he never expected his friends to be riding in the Impala, the place he called home, he also never expected his father and brother to be casually drinking a beer in the kitchen of a place that he legitimately owned. Definitely trippy.

'So you guys are probably tired. Want to get to bed?'

Sam was swaying a bit on his feet, looking like he was about to fall over. He looked over at John who nodded his consent and Dean just had to raise an eyebrow at that. Had Sam just asked John's permission to go to bed? He shook his head in amazement, well that certainly wasn't weird at all.

'Yeah.'

Dean opened the door to his bedroom and gestured inside. 'Go ahead. Take your pick.'

Sam walked into Dean's bedroom and was torn between laughing and being amazed. There were two beds in his room, and a small desk with a lamp on it in between them. The comforters were a dark blue pattern and made neatly on the beds. In front of them was a dresser with a TV on it. You put it all together and it looked exactly like a motel room.

'Dean? Did you do this on purpose?'

Dean sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. 'Well, you know, I got a little bit homesick every now and again. And I obviously couldn't get the Impala so I did the next best thing, I guess.'

'Motel rooms?'

'It's where we spent the majority of our childhood so why not?'

Sam chuckled humorlessly at that while John just looked around. 'Yeah, I guess.'

Sam looked at the tiny room and couldn't help but feel the familiarity of it all. It was true what Dean had said. If the Impala was their home then motel rooms were like their home away from home. Throughout all of the United States they were basically the same. Singles or doubles, starch sheets and questionable stains. No smoking signs, ice machines, and depending on how seedy the place was, neighbors that lived next to for a night or two and then disappeared in the morning.

'Don't suppose you have some weapons stocked around would you?' John was throwing a cautious gaze over his son's accommodations, seeing bare spaces, and limited exits. And not many places to stash a knife or a gun.

Dean just went over to his bed and pulled up his pillow and pulled out a gun. He then went over to the TV and pulled a knife out of the vcr built into it. He smiled at their expressions and moved the carpet from underneath the doorway to show them a line of salt laid down.

'And last but not least I got a couple of Devil's Traps, painted in glow in the dark paint.' As he said this he flipped the light switch off and plunged the room into darkness. And now Sam could the multitude of the circular symbols on the walls and ceilings of Dean's apartment. They glowed faintly in his room all the way to the kitchen. Sam shook his head in wonderment. Dean was always paranoid or as he liked to call himself, cautious.

Dean turned the light back on and gestured towards the room.

'So I guess you two can have the beds, I'll just sleep on the floor in the living room.' Dean started to head out but John grabbed his arm.

'Hold on now. I think I'll sleep in the living room, you and Sam take the beds.'

John wasn't going to take any chances. He had no idea what was going through Dean's head at the moment, heck he never could figure out the boy. Sam would tell all you needed to know and then some. And he himself would bark it out at you until he got his point across, but Dean, despite being the chatty and apparently care free guy, was the one you had to look out for when it came to thoughts and feelings. He kept it all in, John knew this. He even really loved it as his boys were growing up too because it meant one less thing to deal with. But now he was kind of wishing Dean knew how to talk about what bothered him a bit more.

So he got to do the dad thing and sleep on the floor outside of the room his sons were in, keeping watch, guarding the place, and making sure they were safe. Because the last time he remembered Dean being asleep was the time he was taken from him. No way in heck was he going to let that happen again.

'Uh okay? You okay with that Sammy?'

Sam saw the way his father's facial expressions changed and after being with the man constantly for the past two years could read him almost perfectly. So he understood exactly the reasons why John was offering to sleep on the floor as opposed to a comfortable bed.

'Yeah I'm good with that.'

Dean looked at them both, his brother and his father, and muttered something underneath his breath about them being weird.

'Okay then. Well, I'm going to take a shower then. See you guys in the morning.' With that Dean went into the bathroom and shut the door. Pretty soon you could hear the sound of running water and almost as one both John and Sam let out a breath.

'Dad, this is so weird.'

'When has anything we do not been weird?'

'Y'know what I mean.'

John rubbed the back of his head and sighed. 'Yeah I know what you mean.'

They both stood there in awkward silence for a while until John went into the living room. Sam followed him and then frowned when he saw him rifling through Dean's cabinets.

'What are you doing?' Sam asked with disapproval even though it was already blatantly obvious what his father was doing.

'What's it look like I'm doing.' John grunted from underneath the kitchen sink.

'You can't go snooping through Dean's stuff.' Sam hissed as he stalked towards his father.

'It's not snooping,' John said as he stood back up and headed for the drawers in the counter. 'It's called 'finding every bit of information about where Dean has been for the past two years because we know Dean wouldn't tell us even if we asked'.'

'You don't know that.' Sam tried to argue but was secretly hoping that his dad found something out.

John just ignored him though and continued to pull out the drawers and take everything out, examining every bit of information he could find, trying to piece together the puzzle that had taken over their lives two years ago.

After about fifteen minutes John wanted to hit something out of frustration, there wasn't anything worthwhile anywhere. Dean wasn't lying when he said if he wanted to get away without leaving any incriminating evidence in a heartbeat than he could. But still, he was John Winchester, dangit! He was known for being stubborn to a fault and wasn't about to let this stop him!

With renewed vigor John started to feel along the walls and the floors looking for a secret compartment or a hidden space. Anything like that. Sam just sighed at his father's antics in the back ground which John pointedly chose to ignore.

Still nothing. Sighing he gave up, although he promised himself he would start trying to get Dean to talk to them tomorrow. He went into Dean's room and grabbed a spare pillow and blanket from his closet and walked back out.

He clapped a hand on Sam's shoulder. 'Hey it's been a long way and we still a have a hunt going on this weekend. You need to get some rest, alright?'

Sam immediately balked at the ordering tone in his father's tone, but like he had for the past two years, pushed down the rebellion that seemed to work its way up his throat and silently nodded. Ever since that last big fight between them when Dean had disappeared they had put in place a shaky truce that kept them together while looking for their lost family member and it had surprisingly held strong.

'Good night Dad.'

'Night Sam.'

John watched Sam go into the bedroom and shut the door, grateful to realize that he knew where both his boys were tonight. He shivered, noticing that the window was open letting in the cool ocean breeze. He walked over to the window sill and leaned out slightly taking in a deep breath of the salty air. Yep, this definitely wasn't Kansas. He wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and closed the window, heading back into the kitchen. Looking at the light underneath the bathroom door he could no longer hear the shower running.

Dang, that boy had taken at least thirty minutes. It was lot different form the barely five minute long showers in various motels because the hot water ran out. Then again, John had seen the outrageous hair his son was sporting. How much glue and dye did it take to make it stand up like that? Another possibility could be that Dean was avoiding them. Yeah, after seeing them for the first time in over two years it might take a little getting reused to.

John walked into the tiny kitchen and looked at the picture hanging on the fridge. He smiled as he saw it was one with him, and Sam in it. It felt good knowing Dean hadn't completely erased who he was, who his family was. Even though he was in no way the sentimental type, none the less he reached up with his hand and touched the photograph softly, tracing the bright smile of his sons in it. A moment of happiness preserved forever. In it Dean was giving Sam a noogie, with John watching fondly on behind them.

Those were better times.

He clenched his fist and then sat down on the floor outside his boy's room, resolute in keeping watch over them through the night. As he vigilantly stayed awake making sure no harm would come to them, for tonight at least, he made a promise to make things go back to the way they were. Back to as a happy a time that they had ever experienced in their cursed lives.

 

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Sam sat on the floor of Dean's room while he waited for him to get out of the bathroom. He was dead tired, and really should have already been underneath the covers and deep into dreamland. But he just couldn't bring himself to close his eyes yet. He wanted to talk to Dean, see what was up, and see if he was really and truly okay.

He heard his dad still shuffling around outside the door and smiled to himself. John Winchester had changed a lot over the past two years, became a little bit less stubborn, though not a lot, and tended to listen to him a lot more rather than just arguing. Well, maybe that the both of them. He questioned John's orders less and John tried to actually listen to him instead of just giving out commands. But still one thing that would not ever change would be his protectiveness. Actually since losing Dean he had became even more protective if possible. So Sam knew he was going to stay awake the whole night, watching over them. And despite the fact that Sam was well into his twenties he and his father had rarely been separated for the past two years. Just like he and Dean had been on the road when they were searching for their father.

Sam laughed a little bit at that, bitterly. It seemed as if their family was always losing something. Even though Sam would argue against it, saying he had just gone to college, he was certain Dean and his Dad viewed it as him being gone. Not exactly missing, but choosing to not be found even though they knew where he was. Stanford wasn't exactly the most conspicuous place in the world.

Then it had been Dad's turn. Dean showing up in his kitchen in the middle of the night had been quite a shock, but not as much as his request was. Dad missing. Thinks he was in trouble. Drop everything in his life that he tried to so hard to establish for one weekend? Though he had protested it vehemently, he of course said yes. Dean may have always said that he was unable to say no to his little brother, what he didn't know was that Sam struggled almost as much saying no to Dean. Then again he never did have to say it often, Dean rarely asked for anything for himself.

'What are you laughing about?' Dean asked as he entered the room and gently shut the door behind him.

'Ah, nothing. Just laughing.' Sam answered as he looked at his brother. Dean no longer had the eye liner on making his bright green eyes appear exactly as he used to remember. He also seemed to have taken out all of his piercings. His hair was also back to his normal dark blond; God only knew how long it took to wash out the dye and gel used to style the monstrosity of the hairdo he was sporting earlier.

'Hey, how many piercings do you have anyway?' Sam wondered out loud.

'How many? Let's see.' Dean reached up to his face and touched his lips, ears and nose mumbling numbers out loud. 'Hmm, one under my lip, one in my nose, and. . . .' he touched each ear once, 'two in each ear. And many other places that would take too long to name.'

Sam laughed a little bit. 'I have to admit man, I never imagined you getting piercings.'

'They're all silver.'

Sam nodded at that. 'So all the stuff you wear? There's a purpose for it? Protection and whatnot'

'Uh, no. I mean I try to make everything useful, but mainly some of the stuff is just fun. Like Dad said, since when does eyeliner scare off ghosts? Besides you haven't even seen my kilt yet.'

Sam snorted. 'Yeah, you have a kilt.'

Dean wordlessly got up and opened up his closet pulling out a plaid creation on a hanger. Sam's mouth hung open.

'Holy Crap! You really do have a kilt!'

'Told you.'

Sam just shook his head in amazement. 'Wow. That's. . . .um . . .interesting?'

'Ha. Don't knock it till you try it.' Dean saw the way Sam was eyeing the outfit dubiously.

'Dude I am never going to wear a kilt.' Seriously. Him in kilt? His too long legs would be exposed!

'Uh huh. I betcha I can get you to wear a kilt by the end of the week.'

'Yeah, not gonna happen.'

'No seriously. I also bet I can get you to get a tattoo, and a piercing eventually.' Dean considered this as a thought popped into his head. 'As a matter of fact, I am going to get you in some eyeliner, and you're going to get a hair do that would make any rocker proud.'

'Dude. You are dreaming.'

'We'll see.' Dean said mischievously.

'So, uh, why are you on the floor?'

Sam looked down at himself, and finished putting the rest of his knives in his bag. 'Nothing just didn't want to go to bed yet.'

Dean snorted. 'Uh huh. Well you look like you're about to pass out and it's like two on the morning. And you did say that you haven't slept in like two days. So hit the sack.'

'Yeah yeah.'

Dean reached over and fluffed Sam's shaggy hair and took the bed closest to the door, naturally of course. He waited until Sam got settled beneath the covers of the other bed and then shut off the light. It was completely dark except for the streetlight coming in through the cheap blinds covering the window. For a while all you could hear was the sound of each other's breathing.

'Hey Dean?'

Of course they wouldn't be going straight to sleep, Dean thought. This was Sam, and they hadn't seen each other for over two years. They had a lot of catching up to do, so that meant a lot of talking and emotional spillage. Perfect. Why had he expected any different?

'What Sam?'

'What happened to you?'

Dean sighed. 'You're guess is just as good as mine.'

'Yeah, but, you heard me and Dad's side of the story. What about yours? What happened when you woke up? Where were you? Why didn't you try to find us or at least freaking call?'

Dean felt the onslaught of Sam's questions. 'Shut up Sam. I don't really remember all the details. If you recall I was in a coma at the time.'

'Dean.' Sam knew Dean was trying to deflect the questions, so he pressed on.

'Sam. I'm not talking about it, so just drop it.'

'Dean. . .' Sam tried once more.

'Sam, I'm dead serious. I'm not talking, so do us both a favor and be quiet.'

Sam took a hint and kept his mouth shut, although he vowed to find out what had happened to Dean two years ago. Heck, he wanted to know what Dean had been doing these last two years. How he disappeared, what he was thinking when he finally woke up, was he alright?

His thoughts swirled around in his head for a while until he slipped into a half awake, half asleep state. He jerked himself awake suddenly and called out his brother's name.

'Dean?'

'What! What do you want Sam?'

'I just. . .I was just making sure you were still there.'

Dean's tone softened considerably as he answered his brother. 'It's okay Sam. Go back to sleep. I promise I'll be here in the morning when you wake up.'

Sam turned on his side and almost fell asleep instantly. Dean always kept his promises.

 

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John snorted himself awake the next morning, sunlight streaming in annoyingly at his eyes. He grunted at the sun and wished he could actually hunt it for a moment while his thoughts were still clogged with sleepiness. Rubbing at his eyes he let out a yawn and glanced at Dean's bedroom door.

He could hear someone brushing their teeth in the bathroom assuming it was Dean. He was right when few moments later Dean walked out, his outrageous apparel firmly in place. All the piercings were present plus an extra one he didn't even know existed. He absentmindedly wondered why Dean didn't have his eyebrow ring in yesterday.

'So, you chose red today?' John nodded towards his son's single Mohawk dyed a dark blood red.

'Yep.' Dean responded cheerfully although he fiddled with his lip ring nervously.

Seriously walking out of the bathroom straight into his Dad after two years of solitude was going to take some getting used to. But despite the slight discomfort of the moment he wouldn't trade it in for anything. Just seeing his father's face was making him happy, even if there was a serious sense of foreboding teetering at the edges of his mind.

'So is there like a pattern to it or what?'

'To what?'

'Your hairstyles? Do you randomly decided, hmmmm, I'm thinking pigtails today, or is there a chart you follow?'

Dean laughed. 'Nah. It just depends on how I feel I guess.'

'Hm. Will you go wake up your brother? If you're serious about the hunt me and Sam were going on we need to get a move on.'

'Alright. But before we head out of town I need to stop by the shop real quick and tell Trucker I'm gonna be gone.'

'You sure that's alright? You just taking off like that?'

'Yeah, I'm sure. I've done it before. Besides, Trucker is just cool like that.'

John felt a twinge in his chest but convinced himself that it was not jealousy that he felt. Nosiree. Not him.

'Still, go get your brother up would ya?'

Dean smirked a little bit. 'Actually I think you should go wake Sam up.'

John saw the look in Dean's eyes and got slightly worried. 'Okay?'

Dean watched his dad go to wake up his little brother and barely contained his laughter. His anticipation paid off when he heard his father's booming voice.

'Sam? Why in the hell are you wearing a kilt?'

'DEAN!'


	6. Chapter 6

Trucker wiped down the counters of his beloved shop, only a few minutes after the girls had left. He had waved them off, wishing them a good time and then prepared himself for a long weekend. Smiling to himself he had thought of Zo. The gentle Wiccan lady had agreed to help him look after the shop. In some terms it was technically a date!

Vaguely he heard the door's bell ring in the back ground but he was so caught up in thoughts of Zo that it didn't even register.

'Aww, well, would you look at that. If I had to guess, judging by the look his face, I'd definitely say Trucker is right now somewhere on a beach with Zo. . . and they are both naked going at it like rabbits.'

Trucker looked up as Pries-. . Dean, came into the doorway, flanked on both sides by his father and his brother. He was in usual wacky apparel, and his father and brother were dressed basically the same in flannel and jeans. Seriously, this was California people, weren't they afraid of getting heat stroke?

'Wow, Dean. How'd you guess?'

Dean stiffened a little bit; his real name being said by Trucker was really trippy, and awkward. But he guessed he could get used to it. 'Gah! Imagery! Bad imagery!' He clutched his head in mock terror while Sam just rolled his eyes at him.

'Ah, come on Dean. It's a perfectly natural act. Besides you have the most sex out of anyone I know.'

John nodded sagely. 'Your brother's right. As a matter of fact, when we first got married, me and your mother probably couldn'tt go without doing it every six hours.'

'Ahhh!' Both Sam and Dean frantically covered their ears and tried to destroy the images that filtered into their brains from their father's words.

'MY BRAAIIINN! I CAN NEVER THINK AGAIN!' Dean clawed at his hair in frustration and Sam actually started to knock his head against the wall.

'Stop being so dramatic, Pr-..Dean.' Trucker chuckled at the brother's antics, although he did sympathize with them, having to hear about their parent's sex lives.

'Whose Zo?' Sam asked curiously after he was done beating his forehead against the wall. My gosh, was that an actual indention?

'The lady that owns the new age shop across the street that Trucker is in love with.'

'Ah.'

Trucker decided that they really needed a subject change right about then. 'So. . what are you doing here so early? I don't think I can actually remember when the last time was that you showed up on time.'

John raised an eyebrow at that. His son wasn't coming into work on time? Where was all the self discipline that he had instilled into his boy gone to? Honestly he thought he had taught him better than that. Who knew? And also, Trucker, the boss of this whole place wasn't firing him over it. If he ran a shop he would have expected his employee's to be on time, no matter the circumstances. And by the sounds of it Dean apparently never showed up on time!

'Aw, that's sweet. I'm so glad that you've memorized my habits so well. It's endearing, really.' He said in mock sincerity.

'Dude, if I didn't know you like the back of my hand after two years I don't think I ever would.'

Dean let out a nervous chuckle, while Sam just snorted. Trucker's eyes narrowed at that. Definitely suspicious. ' Actually I have a favor to ask.'

'Alright, you name it. As long as it's not too illegal.' He could remember the last favor Dean asked of him. For some strange reason he had needed a lot of salt. Unusual definitely, and he had cleared them out of the condiment for at least a week.

'Could I have the weekend off?' Nothing too bad, he took off all the time on hunts, trying to keep his own little area of home turf safe.

'Well,' Trucker hedged out. 'You do remember that the girls are also gone this weekend right?' Trucker didn't mind him going, but he was worried about him. His long lost family suddenly showed up and he was leaving on a trip with them immediately? The man probably needed some time to recuperate and get used to the change in his life again.

Dean's eyes widened in realization as he remembered. 'Aw shit. I'm sorry man, I can-'

'Now, now,' Trucker held up his hands to get Dean to stop talking. 'You can go; you know I'm used to you disappearing for days at a time. I can handle the shop on my own.'

Sam and John had decided to step back and let Dean handle the situation, seeing as he was the most invested. But both their ears perked up at hearing Dean would disappear for days at a time. Dean really wasn't lying when he said he hadn't given up hunting.

'Ah, you know.' Dean looked up at Trucker mischievously, 'You could always get Zo to help you out. . .'

Trucker blushed at that but kept his game face on. 'You know, I actually already asked for her help. Thought I was gonna need a hand baby-sitting you.'

'Hey!'

'Have fun on your trip.'

All of the Winchesters laughed at that. Monster hunting, not your typical family outing, but still if you wanted to, you could probably classify it somewhere under the fun category.

'I will, thanks man.'

He started to leave when Trucker asked him another question, one that he really wished hadn't been said in front of his family, just because they were perceptive little creatures.

'Hey, Pr..-Dean. You've been sleeping okay lately right? You haven't been having any night terrors?'

Dean put on his best smile for Trucker, while he was internally grimacing at the fact that his Dad and brother had heard that for sure. 'Yeah, man. You know I'm always alright.'

'Uh huh.' Trucker looked unconvinced and now his family was staring at him in simultaneous stares of suspicion and concern. Great.

'Well, we gotta go. See ya Monday!'

Sam was a curious man. That much was certain. When he was a kid and finally learned how to ask 'why' he took full advantage of the word. And he never really stopped. Why is the sky blue, Dean? Why's Dad gone all the time? Why are we always moving? Can I come with you? Where's mommy?

As he got older his questions became a lot less innocent. Why don't you ever stand up for yourself? Why can't we be normal? Why do we have to be the people to hunt monsters? Why are we chasing after a demon that we'll probably never find?

And right now he had a lot of questions. The majority of them being about his brother. Ah, who was he kidding? They were all about his brother. And he was burning to ask them, the words threatening to spill from his mouth in a flood. But he restrained himself, gulping down the words and trying to be grateful that his brother was here at all.

He was still in a state of shock about that. He looked in the mirror to see Dean sitting in the backseat of the Impala behind him. Dean was staring out the window, and Sam was positive that his brother's green eyes weren't really seeing anything. It was surreal. His brother was actually here, in the flesh, and he was okay.

Well, as okay as he was gonna be. He had heard what the kind hippie dude had asked Dean. Night terrors, huh? His inquisitive mind immediately supplied multiple scenarios for why Dean would be having them. Obviously it had something to do with when he disappeared. One of the questions he wanted most to ask Dean was what happened after he woke up, but Dean wasn't talking. And because Sam knew Dean so well, he knew it would be a while before he talked, if ever.

So the only option left was to find out the information on his own. He calculated a list of things that he needed to find out about Dean in his head.

One. Where had Dean ended up? They knew the Demon had taken Dean, but where had he deposited the unconscious man after he took off with him? He had to be somewhere, and had to be somewhere that people were able to take care of him.

Two. Why hadn't Dean tried to contact them? He knew Dean had memorized both of their numbers and they hadn't changed them in over two years. Family looks out for each other, if Dean was in trouble why didn't he come to them?

Three. Dean obviously went through something big while he was away. Something that wasn't pleasant. This was mainly evidenced by Trucker's concern over Dean's sleeping habits. Night terrors. Not nightmares, no those were for little kids. Night terrors were the kinds of things men returning from war went through. It had to have been horrific.

Four. And finally why did the Demon take Dean in the first place? All of the Winchester's were pretty well known in the hunting world. Known for being ruthless and dangerous when it came to evil. Once they had a hunt they didn't stop. The Demon had to know of this stubbornness, heck John had been after the thing for twenty plus years. So why take a strike at their family by taking Dean two years ago. It didn't make any sense.

'You know Sam, I'm really flattered and all by your very stalkerish type staring, but it's starting to seriously creep me out.' Dean quipped from the back seat.

'Wha? Oh.' Apparently in the middle of his musings Sam had been looking at Dean from the side mirror. 'Sorry.'

'It's cool. So. . ' Dean rubbed his hands together. 'What are we looking at?'

'Well, in the past three weeks seven bodies have been found drained of blood in Morro Bay. The victims were all female, and were all last seen at night before their bodies have been showing up.' John informed him from the front.

'Alright that's easy. Sounds like a typical vampire.' Dean commented although a sudden chill ran up his back. Something about what his father said wasn't sitting right with him.

'Yeah, but there's been some weird inconsistencies.' Sam said as he stretched out in the passenger seat as much as his long frame would allow. Dean felt sorry for his large little brother, and that was the only reason he let him have the front.

'Like what?'

'Every single body was left right in front of the police station. No one saw the vampire come or go but in the morning right after the killing there the body is. It's weird. Does the thing want to get caught?'

'Yeah, usually they would hide them really good. Why leave them out in the open like that? It's like a beaconing signal for hunters.'

'You got that right.'

'So what's the plan?' Dean asked his Dad.

'I don't suppose you have any fake IDs?'

'Ah, Dad, I'm hurt. I'm a good law abiding citizen. How could you even consider-'

'Dean..' John said in a warning tone.

Dean smirked. 'Yes I still have a few fake IDs. FBI, police, detective, animal trainer..'

'Why the hell would you need a license as an animal trainer for a hunt?'

Dean shuddered. 'Ugh, trust me. You don't want to know.'

Sam looked at him curiously and Dean sighed. 'Okay all I'm saying is that it involved a very bored ghost, an elephant, some shovels, and a shit ton of latex. That's it. End of story.'

John and Sam looked at him in shock. 'Ooookkay?'

'Shouldn't have asked.'

'Okay, aside from the scary, imaginative images stabbing my brain, how are we going to go about this?'

'Well, I was going to go in alone as an out of town forensics specialist. Sam was going to be my assistant or student, whatever, but he's too young looking. I'd get you to do it. . .but. . ' And he made gesture towards his hair.

Dean snorted. 'Oh please. The stuff washes out. And I can take out the piercings. Besides, not every professional is so clean cut.'

'Still, if you can tone it down a little it would make it a ton easier.'

'Fine, fine. What's Sammy going to be doing?'

Sam held up his laptop. 'Research.' He said with a grin.

'My gosh, you are the only person I know who gets excited about spending hours looking through boring stuff.'

'Would you rather do it?' Sam raised an eyebrow at him.

'Heck no!'

Dean walked out of the bathroom at the motel that they were staying at after an hour of scrubbing, shaving and cutting his hair. He felt the sides of his cheeks and smiled at the smooth feeling of them. His sideburns were completely gone and his hair was trimmed. No longer would he be able to form his beloved Mohawks and spikes but he supposed he could live with that.

'Dean! Come on! We gotta go!' John knocked on the bathroom door in impatience. 'The mortician is expecting us in ten minutes!'

'Yeah yeah.' Dean grumbled as he stepped out of the bathroom. 'I heard you the first ten times.' He passed by Sam who was laying on one of the beds with his laptop researching diligently to get the rest of his suit laying across the chair. He slipped it on easily and straightened out his tie. It was only after about a minute of complete silence that he realized something was wrong.

'Uh, guys?' He turned around to look at his father and his brother, who were both staring at him intently. He let out a nervous chuckle. 'What? Do I have something on my face?'

'No…' Sam answered him slowly. My gosh, he thought he was used to seeing Dean after about two days but seeing him like this was making it seem like he was seeing him for the first time all over again. Dean's face was smooth and clean shaven, having gotten rid of those funky side burns. Also his hair was no longer such a long length, it was back to the almost military regulation style hairdo he wore when he last saw him. The dye was gone, as was the eyeliner. All in all Dean looked just like. . . well, Dean.

'Well, stop staring at me then. Seriously, it's not like I'm gonna disappear.' He said with a chuckle, trying to make light of the situation, because seriously it was starting to get annoying being stared at all the time. But now that the words were out of his mouth he realized his mistake. The tension in the air just increased by 100 percent. Oops.

'We don't know that.' John basically growled out.

Dean held up his hands in a placating gesture and looked to Sam for help but his brother wore the same expression as their Dad. 'Geez. Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood. Don't freak out.'

'Don't freak out?' Sam shouted at him from the bed.' Dean! We came back one day to find your comatose self gone! You disappeared! And you don't want us to freak out!'

'Sheesh Sammy. It's not exactly like I chose to walk out of there out of my own violation!'

'Yeah about that. What exactly did happen there Dean?' John and Sam were gaining up on him. Okay, that was so not fair. He never joined one or the other's side when they saw it fit to duke it out. And now they were going to that to him? After he played peacemaker for years?

'It's none of your freaking business!'

'Well, I say it is! Me and Sam searched for two years! Two years Dean! Non-stop! And what were you doing! You were having a great time in California, making sandwiches and laughing your days away! We were miserable and you were just having a good 'ol time!'

Dean inhaled a deep breath as images assaulted his brain.

"They don't need you. Not like you need them."

"Sammy. He's clearly the favorite."

"What use are you? Do you see? Do you see what you did?"

"This will be out little secret Deano. So don't you say a word."

'You…' He began as he shook his head to clear the words away, ',you don't know a damn thing.'

He looked back up at them, and both noticed the dark look in his eyes. Sam was the first to speak because everyone in God's green earth knows that John Winchester isn't one likely to apologize.

'Dean, uh, I'm sorry man.' Sam really regretted shouting at his brother now that the initial anger was over. What was he thinking? Yelling at his brother who by all rights he thought was dead. He just got his brother back and he automatically starts yelling at him? What was wrong with him.

'Forget it Sam. Let's just get this hunt over with.' He knew they didn't mean it, well, actually yeah, they did. But that didn't mean their hearts weren't in the right places. Seriously though, all the staring and concerned questions were starting to get old. If he didn't want to freaking talk about it then he wouldn't freaking talk about it.

'We're just worried about you man.' Sam really wanted Dean to get that. To get that the only reason he was so adamant about finding out what happened was to prevent it from happening again. He was terrified of losing Dean again.

He didn't want them to be worried about him. That wasn't right. They shouldn't have to worry about him, lose sleep over him, or become stressed out over him. That was what he was supposed to do for them.

'Yeah, well, don't be.'


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

'Well, that was a pleasant, overly joyful and complete waste of time!' Dean shouted angrily as he jerked into his leather jacket.

'Can't all be hits Dean.'

'Yeah, well, the guy could have at least been a little less snobbish. It was creepy too. Didn't you see the way he kept referring to the bodies as his? Like an owner or something?' He shuddered as he remembered the weird mortician.

'Uh huh. Some people are just eccentric like that, dude.'

'Completely unhelpful! Are sure he wasn't the vampire? I say he's the vampire.' Dean stated confidently as they walked down the road from their hotel room to a bar they had seen coming into town. Their Dad was still back there, not wanting to be out and about.

Sam chuckled. 'Dude, he couldn't possibly be a vampire. He met us outside at first, when it was sunny. And when we shook hands he was warm. Also he didn't react when I 'accidently' stuck him with a prick of dead man's blood.'

'Sammy you sly dog. When did you do that?' Dean was impressed and a wee bit shocked. He knew Sam never liked to do anything that might hurt someone. Even if it just was a prick of a needle.

'When I was shaking his hand.'

'Huh. Smooth,' he complimented him.

'Thanks.'

They walked in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying one another's company. Both basically just happy to be in the presence of their brother.

'So, you ready to make some money from some poor unsuspecting sap?' They were getting low on funds. And even though Dean had a regular job he still liked to keep his pool skills sharp. It was time for some hustling.

'Yeah. Can you be the drunk this time though?' It was always so much easier to sucker people out of their money when you could tag team. Working in a pair meant more people to get funds from and someone to watch your back when a sore loser didn't want to pay up or even wanted their money back.

'Sure thing. Beside you tend to look more like the uptight disapproving brother and I tend to look more like the carefree fun one.' He said this as though it were a compliment to Sam.

'You're gonna be a drunk.' Sam pointed out.

Dean shrugged his shoulders and nodded. 'They're always fun.'

They finally reached the parking lot of the establishment and assessed the quickest escape routes. Not such a good idea walking here after all. Maybe it would have been a better idea to have brought the Impala along. Never knew when you were gonna have to make a quick getaway.

Opening the doors Dean looked around and immediately spotted the pool tables and grinned. A game was already in motion with two biker dudes and now all it was missing was one Dean Winchester to brighten up their day. He cleared his throat and stretched his shoulders. Show time.

Sam was right behind Dean and noticed how clean the place was. Definitely not their usual scene. It catered to a younger and a lot less creepy crowd. It was actually a place to meet people and not to drown your sorrows in alcohol.

'Well hello there boys. Care for a round of pool?' Dean asked with his most I'm so innocent and gullible you can take complete advantage of me face.

The two large bikers looked at him, sizing him up, then smiled at each other and nodded. 'Rack 'em up.'

It was maybe an hour later and the place was really full by now. Dean was really into the game. Trying to make his shots not go in so much and if they did make it look like it happened by accident. Dean was already 'slurring' his words and stumbling around a bit. Sammy would show up in a second or two, do his whole concerned brother act, and then the final game. He grinned in anticipation; he could basically smell the money already.

'One more. 'st one more game. I shwear, then 'm good.' He pleaded with the men. They shrugged their shoulders and Dean could practically hear the cha ching sound going off in their heads.

'Okay, buddy. But just one more.' The taller one, with the red bandana said.

'Hey!' Ah, Sam, right on time. 'I think my brother's a little too drunk to be making bets right now. Dontcha think?'

'Hey it's his money.' The other said uncaringly.

' 's okay, Shammy. I. . .I gots this.' Dean said as he burped a little bit into his mouth. In reality he had actually only had one beer so far while he knew the bikers had at least three.

The bikers were so sure and positive of their victory that it was almost comical to see their jaws drop in surprise when Dean sunk the eight ball and won the game. Dean held out his hand for the money and luckily these bikers were some of the honest guys who knew when a loss was a loss, and accepted their defeat graciously. Dean and Sam watched them walk out of the bar, their night probably ruined by the loss of their hard earned cash. But hey, Dean's gotta eat.

'Alright Sammy! Four hundred big ones! Not bad for a night's work wouldn't ya say?' He started to re-count the money, letting the precious paper slip through his fingers.

'Uh huh.' Sam answered distractedly. He had seen a pale man enter the bar as the bikers were leaving and for some reason the hair stood up on the back of his neck in warning.

'Yep. We should be good for a few days now.' Dean continued.

'That's nice Dean.' He had black hair and blue eyes, was dressed nicely, wasn't hideous and was carrying a white rose. He looked like everyone else in the bar but despite this fact, Sam knew something was off about him.

'As a matter of fact I am going to go out and buy a Wendigo as a pet. Thinking I can train him and teach him to do ballet. What do you think of 'Bo' as a name. Seems like a Bo to me.'

'That's great Dean.' He scanned the room almost as if he were searching for someone…or hunting.

'Dude!' Dean waved a hand in front of his face.

'What!'

'Did you hear a word of what I just said?'

'Uh, yeah? Something about someone named Bo?' Sam guessed.

'Yeah. He's going to be our pet Wendigo and we're going to teach him ballet.' Dean said seriously.

'What?'

'Exactly. You weren't paying attention. Now, what are you looking at?'

Sam was craning his neck to see past all of the people in the crowd, trying to keep a lock on the guy that sent shivers up his spine. He was still there at the bar, just playing with his drink, and if Sam was honest with himself he seemed a little bit nervous.

'That guy over there.' Sam nodded his head in the general direction.

Dean raised his eyebrows at him but looked anyway. 'Well, Sammy I gotta say it has been a while since we've been around each other and I just want to say that I will always love you no matter how much you change.'

'Um, thanks?' Sam always appreciated hearing sentiments of affection from his family but that was really random.

'Yep. And since we're going to be spilling secrets, have any more you want to tell me?'

'What are you talking about?'

Dean looked at him in pity. 'There's no shame in coming out of the closet Sam. I just never expected you to be one of 'em.'

'What! I'm not gay!' Sam shouted this and a lot of people looked over at them in curiosity.

'Then what's with the intense staring at the guy over at the bar?'

'Dude! I just got a bad feeling, that's all.'

'One should never question one's feelings, no matter how small they may seem.' Dean muttered underneath his breath. Great, he was quoting Zo now. What was next? Tofurkey?

'What?'

'Nothing. So, anyway, do think this guy is dangerous?'

Sam assessed the man with cold calculating eyes. There was definitely something off about him, but when he really looked at him, all he could see was hope and reserved expectation. 'Maybe.'

'Our kind of dangerous?'

Sam squinted his eyes and stepped a bit closer, and suddenly saw the old scar of a bite mark on the man's neck, the white standing out against his already pale skin. 'Definitely.'

It couldn't really be that easy could it? Finding the vampire at a random bar in Morro Bay. What were the odds of that? In his lifetime Sam had come to stop expecting good luck, if they were going to have any at all it would be bad. So it was with the utmost caution that he shared his theory with Dean.

'Dean, I think that's the vampire.'

Dean's face suddenly went from playful to concentrated. 'You serious? Just sitting here in the middle of a bar that happens to have two hunters looking for it?'

'Yeah.'

'Well, okay then.' Dean looked at the man, no, vampire, in a new light. He was just sitting there, twirling the straw in his drink. A fairly attractive woman approached him after a while. He tensed up, expecting to have to follow the couple out of here and save the girl.

'Think he's hunting?' Sam asked as the man seemed to ask the woman a question. She shook her head and he seemed to decline her offer of a drink politely. Dean watched her walk off.

He shook his head. 'I don't think so. Still we need to get him out of here. Ask him some questions, and hopefully make sure there is one less blood sucker in the world.'

'Alright. We'll get him out of the bar and into one of the back alleys. Man, we are lucky that I happen to have a syringe of dead man's blood on me, otherwise we'd be screwed.'

Quickly and stealthily they made their way towards the unsuspecting vampire, dodging the people in the bar, eyes set on the target. Almost as one they saddled up next to him, a brother on each side, blocking any means of escape. Still they wanted to do this without drawing attention.

'Hey, there.' Sam said amicably, smiling at the vampire.

'Uh, hi?' He responded and looked honestly confused.

'What are you drinking?' Dean asked and you could practically hear the insinuation in his voice.

He lifted up his glass. 'Listen, it's nice to meet you and all, but I'm actually waiting for someone, so if you could-'

'You mean your next meal?' Dean asked innocently.

That certainly got them a reaction. The vampire paled, if that were even possible, and his eyes grew wide. 'W-what are you talking about?'

'We're not stupid, bloodsucker.' Dean whispered in a tone that only a vampire would be able to pick up.

The vampire let out a non-existent breath. 'You're hunters?' He said matter of factly.

Dean smirked at him and he and Sam grabbed a hold of each of his arms. 'Let' s take a walk.'

The vampire made no resistance, which Dean found odd, but maybe that was because of the syringe he had pressed to the side of him threatening to pump him full of a poison that would make him hurt for a while. They stepped out of the crowded place and into the cool air of the night, the loud sounds of the music and the conversation quickly muting into silence. Quickly they led him to the side alley where they would be alone and pushed him up against the wall.

'So, you've not been a very nice hemovore lately, have you?' Dean snarled at him as he slammed him once again against the wall.

'What are you talking about?' He asked, and Dean could have sworn that the vamp was actually confused.

'Don't 'what' us. We know you killed those seven girls! Drained them of their blood and then left them at the police station!' Sam said.

'No listen-'

'Which was really stupid by the way.' Dean added. 'Did you want hunters to show up here?'

'Yes!' The vampire shouted.

'Huh?' They both questioned him.

'I wanted hunters to come here.' He repeated.

'Hold up. Hold up.' Dean grabbed his hair in frustration. 'First off, what's your name dude?'

'Jeff Kenline.'

'Okay, Jeff. . .you're saying you didn't kill those girls?'

'Yes.' He answered simply.

'You know what? I don't believe you.' He said as he pushed the tip of the needle a little bit deeper into his skin.

The vampire winced a bit, but the dead man's blood wasn't in him. . .yet.

'No, it's true. I don't drink human blood!' Desperation was leaking into his voice. Dean could tell he reaaallyy didn't want to have a dead man's blood hangover in the morning.

'Bull! As if a vampire would drink anything but that!' Seriously, did he think that they were idiots?

'Hold on a second Dean.' Sam said, and when Dean glanced at him he continued. 'I have met a vampire who didn't drink human blood.'

'What?'

'Well, me and Dad were after a demon's trail after we read reports of cattle mutations. We were after every demon sighting possible those first few months . . ' He trailed off looking a million miles away. ' But uh, yeah, we ended up teaming up with some guy named Gordon..'

'Who?'

' Nobody, just another hunter. Anyway. Point is they turned out to be vampires, who later kidnapped me, but only because they wanted us to leave them alone. They let me go without a scratch. They only fed on animal blood.' He paused for a second, thinking of the words to say to get through to his brother. ' There are good vampires out there Dean.'

Dean looked at Jeff who was completely immobilized against the wall. He had been exceptionally well behaved despite being threatened and now that he thought about it could have easily overpowered them.

'That doesn't mean anything.' He reasoned. 'We still got seven dead girls, and all signs point to him.'

'I can explain that too!' he cried out distressed.

Dean thought about it for a second and then removed the needle from Jeff's skin. 'Okay, you got one minute before I plunge this into your neck. Start talking.'

'Okay. First off I'm not killing anyone. Like your brother said I'm one of those vampire's who only drink animal blood. However I do know there's another vampire in the city, and I want them gone.' An angry look crossed Jeff's face. 'This is my home and they are making trouble for me. I've tried to catch him a lot of times but I'm never fast enough, so I only find the bodies. At first I let them stay where they were, not wanting to contaminate the scene of the crime, and all, but the police weren't finding them. And then the kill count started to get really high, so I started leaving them at the police station 'cause I realized I needed help.'

'You were really trying to get hunters to come here? Are you suicidal?'

'Boy you are lucky you had some of the only ones that would actually listen to you show up. Anyone else would have lobbed your head off and asked questions later.'

Dean and Sam believed the vampire standing in front of them, and so they had no qualms about releasing their hold on him and taking a step back. But man, they could practically hear their father's voice yelling at them for being stupid, too trusting, and idiotic idjits.

'So, what were you doing in that bar anyway?' Sam asked after an awkward silence. It was a normal question, and besides, he hadn't really ever had a chance to hold a normal conversation with a vampire. Usually he was in the middle of trying to chop off their head, or being blindfolded and held against his will by them.

'I was, uh,' Whoa, did the vamp actually just blush? 'I was waiting for someone. A lady friend that I haven't actually met yet.' He shuffled his feet a bit and looked down.

'The big bad vampire was here for a blind date?' Sam asked incredulously.

'Yeah.'

Dean chuckled at that, and then his eyes widened when he remembered where they were. Oh, shit.

'You're not,' Oh, please he couldn't be who he thought he was. But when Dean looked down he saw the vamp was still holding a white rose. 'You wouldn't happen to be fuzzy22?'

Jeff's eyes widened almost comically. 'Oh, please don't tell me you're ladybugger.'

'What? Heck no!'

'Wait, what the heck are you guys talking about?' Sam asked looking back and forth between them.

Dean sighed. 'You remember Jen?' Sam nodded. 'Well, she had been talking to a guy online for about a year and they decided to finally meet. Tonight. In Morro Bay.' He nodded his head towards Jeff.

Sam got it instantly. 'Oh, crap.'

'Yeah.'

'You know Ladybugger?' Jeff asked hopefully.

Dean spared a glance at the vampire and kept his mouth shut. He may have slightly trusted him, and they may be working together in the next few days, but that did not mean he wanted a blood sucker, albeit a 'vegetarian' one, anywhere near his good friend. So he decided to not say a word about Jen to Jeff. Unfortunately that option was taken away from him as soon as he heard his co workers' voices.

'Priestly? What the heck are you guys doing here?'


	8. Chapter 8

Tish, Piper, and Jen were having a good time.

They had left earlier that morning, all set to head out to Morro Bay in the Cosmobile. It had been fun, traveling together, just them girls. They had pigged out on junk food, took turns driving, and stopped at a bunch of random places to take funny pictures.

And of course they had also done Zo's weird little ritual thingy. It hadn't been hard to find a place that was in the ocean's breeze but Tish was certain that a few people were staring at them as they poured, what appeared to be cremated remains, all over themselves.

As a matter of fact, Tish sniffed herself, she could still smell the remains of the herbs and spices put into the little concoction. Weird. She had taken a shower and was pretty confident that the stuff would have worn off by now. All well. At least it didn't smell terrible.

She glanced beside her at Jen who was fidgeting in her seat. She smiled at her, trying to calm her down, but the poor girl was just too nervous.

'Jen, it's gonna be fine.' Piper quipped from the other side of the table.

'Uh huh.' Jen answered distractedly.

'Seriously Jen, everything is going to go great.'

'Y-yeah. I know.' She was silent for a little bit, just looking around, trying to spot the infamous white rose. 'It's just…..nah, never mind.'

'No, what? What is it?' Tish kept an eye out for fuzzy while to keep in on their conversation.

'It's strange. It's like I'm meeting up with an old friend instead of someone whose name I don't even know.' Jen looked embarrassed as she said this.

Tish's smirk softened into a smile. 'Understandable. You guys would talk for hours. I wouldn't be surprised if you guys hit it off right away.'

'Yeah. So I know we're compatible personality wise.' She brush some strands of bright blonde hair out of her eyes. 'But what if he doesn't like me?'

'Jen! How could he not like you?' Piper had seen Jen's face would light up every time she would hear the little ping that indicated she had a message. Piper couldn't imagine that someone would keep up a correspondence for over a year if they weren't interested.

'Very easily. I'm not exactly every guys dream girl.' She grumbled into her drink.

'Jen…'

'Uh, sorry guys. I don't know why I'm being such a downer.'

'Jen, you're about to meet your dream guy….or eh, girl? Who may or not be a convicted felon or an illegal teenager. But all of that doesn't matter. You're allowed to be nervous, because I'm sure fuzzy is just as nervous as you are. He's about to meet the girl of his dreams too.'

'Tish-'

'Shush.' The redhead smiled and waved her hand around indicating the vast room. 'Now let's stop moping and try to find a white rose.'

Piper raised her glass up. 'Amen. I'll toast to that.'

The bar was full of people, and everyone seemed to be there for someone else. Tish spotted a decent looking guy.

'Oh, maybe that's him.' Piper and Jen craned their necks to see just in time to catch a glimpse of his date. 'Or not.'

'It's okay. There a lot of people here. It might take a little while 'til we find him.'

'Yeah.'

Tish and Piper valiantly studied every person that walked into the establishment looking for the currently elusive fuzzy, but to no avail.

'Maybe he just isn't very punctual.' Piper suggested after a while.

Jen shook her head. 'No, he would always message me right away when we set a time down. Besides we got here like an hour early. He's not even supposed to show up for at least another fifteen minutes.'

Tish had to agree with that but it didn't stop her from looking around for her friend's date. Suddenly she spotted a rather tall familiar face in the crowd.

'Hey.' She got the other two's attention by snapping her fingers in front of them. They finally looked at her and where she was subtly pointing. 'Isn't that Sam? Y'know Priestly's brother?'

Piper blushed and nodded and Jen agreed. 'Wonder what he is doing here?'

'Yeah. Didn't he and Priestly and their Dad have some catching up to do?'

Tish followed Sam's movements cataloguing his outfit and mannerisms, you name it. Just cause Priestly said he was off limits didn't mean that she couldn't try.

'You would think that they would want to spend some time together. Or something like that.'

'It's sad isn't it?' Jen commented softly.

'What's sad?' Piper and Tish asked.

'Well,Priestly he . . .I mean. We've known him for around two years know Tish. A little less for you Piper, but even you had to have been able to tell that he didn't like to talk about his family. And then it turns out he was in an accident. And it seems to me like a lot of miscommunication happened but he hadn't talked to his family in two years. That's a long time. It must have really hurt him.'

Both Tish and Piper looked down at the table, unsure of what to say.

'I just wish, I mean…I hope that whatever it is that happened to those guys, I hope that they will be able to talk about it. Get to know each other again. Be a family, y'know?'

'I do to Jen. I do too.' Tish said sadly.

'Still I would've figured that wherever Sam was Priestly would be too.'

'Think Priestly's here?'

'Why wouldn't he be?'

Tish looked around trying to find her mohawked friend but couldn't spot anyone around with brightly colored haired, or even someone with extensive facial piercings. Sam was playing a game of pool with two big guys that looked like they could eat him for breakfast. He ended up winning and now another guy stepped up to the game.

Tish snorted. The guy was obviously drunk, swaying on his feet and slurring his words. She shook her head in mock sympathy, the poor fool was going to lose. Although….she had to admit he was not that bad to look at. He was wearing a worn leather jacket, and a pair of faded jeans. Totally not the type she would usually go for, all rough around the edges, but she couldn't stop herself from admiring the stranger.

'So, I'm gonna keep an eye out for fuzzy while I take a trip to the little girl's room.' Tish said as she got up.

Piper followed the direction of her gaze and smirked a little bit. 'And if you happen to get a chance to talk to the hottie, then that's just good luck right?'

'Of course I have always been lucky.'

'Uh huh.'

Tish poofed her a little bit and dabbed on just a little bit more lip gloss and was ready to go. She got up and made her way steadily to the bathroom that just so happened to pass by where the pool tables were. She zeroed in on her target, taking in the muscled chest and the way he was leaning over the table so confidently even though everyone knew he was going to lose.

She stopped for just a second, surprised, as Sam stepped up to the biker guys.

'Hey, my brother's a little drunk to be making bets, dontcha think?'

Brother?

No…way.

Big biker guy shrugged. 'Hey, it's his money.'

Tish took a closer look at him and held back a gasp. Holy crap it was Priestly!

' 's okay, Shammy. I. . .I gots this.'

What the heck was he doing here? Tish stopped and watched the game for a while, seeing that Priestly was going to lose the game, and apparently a lot of money as well. And she just couldn't let that happen to her friend. As a matter of fact she was about to step in and intervene when she saw something a little weird. Priestly was lining up his shot and shot his brother a look. He actually smirked at him and Sam seemed to nod back.

She wondered what the weird exchange meant and soon found out when Priestly started to count all the money they had won. The whole thing was a setup? Where did they learn to do that?

And as for Priestly, he no longer looked like a drunken fool, and actually looked….pretty dang good.

She had always loved his eyes, even with the craziness added, but now she was able to clearly see the emerald green that sparkled. His hair was tamed down, and was a dark blonde in what she assumed was his natural color. He was wearing a leather jacket and worn jeans in a get up that totally screamed bad boy, and although the outfit in itself wasn't her usual type, bad boy was always a favorite.

She stopped her train of thought suddenly as she realized she was thinking all of this about Priestly. She took a deep breath, she needed to clear her head.

Quickly she made her way back to the table and sat down.

'It was Priestly.' She announced.

Piper and Jen looked at her in confusion. 'What was Priestly?'

'The hottie. The hottie was Priestly.' She stated again.

'The one you went over to specifically so you could get laid!' Piper exclaimed.

'One in the same. Although the getting laid option is definitely out of the question now.'

'You have got to be joking, Tish. Or maybe you've had too much to drink..'

'Haven't touched even a beer.' She told Jen honestly. 'Look! Over there! I swear it's him.'

She pointed towards him and his brother as they made their way towards the bar. It seemed obvious that it was him now that she knew what to look for. The slightly bowlegged walk, the way he constantly looked over his shoulder, and the protective way he seemed to step in front of his brother. A characteristic she had only ever seen applied to herself, Jen, Piper, Trucker or Zo.

It was trippy to think about. 'See, it's him. Just take away the Mohawk and eyeliner.'

'Oh…my…God…'

Tish nodded her head. 'My thoughts exactly Piper.'

'Oh my God!'

'Like I said Jen, my thoughts exactly.'

'No, not that! Look!' Jen pointed to the bar where Sam and Priestly had sat down, sandwiching some random guy between them. 'I found Fuzzy!'

And sure enough there was a white rose setting on the bar top next to a dark haired, blue eyed gorgeous man. He had shown up! Tish looked at her friend excitedly.

'Jen! He's here!' Jen smiled at her happily albeit a little apprehensively.

'What do I do Tish? He's…he's a lot better than I imagined.'

'And you're a thousands times better than he imagined too! I'm sure of it. Go get your man!'

'Uh, guys?' Piper broke in suddenly. 'I think you may have to reconsider that option.

'What? Why?' Tish demanded.

'Cause I think Sam and Priestly already called dibs.' She pointed to the back where, sure enough, the two boys were leading Fuzzy through the exit.

'Okay, that's just weird.' Piper commented.

What was going on? Things had started to go all nutty a few days ago, ever since Priestly's long lost family showed up. She was getting an uneasy feeling about all of this and she didn't like it at all.

'Come on guys.' She said to her friends as she gathered her things and stood up. 'Let's go see what the heck is going on.'

Jen and Piper exchanged a look and then they got up as well. Swiftly they made they their way towards the door that they had seen the men walk through. They stepped outside, into the warm muggy air, and away from the noise and lights. Looking around they couldn't see anyone but could hear some yelling from around the corner. They looked at one another and then sprinted to the source of the screaming.

They couldn't hear much but what they did hear kinda scared them. Murders? Killing spree? What the heck was Dead Man's Blood? And what did Hunting have to do with any of this? Finally they came into view of the men, and caught the tail end of their conversation.

'Oh, crap.'

'Yeah.'

'You know Ladybugger?'

Tish saw the three guys, not fighting each other like she feared, but instead just standing around. Still it didn't exactly explain how they all knew each other, and she wanted some answers. She thought it best to start off with the simplest one.

'Priestly? What the heck are you doing here?'


	9. Chapter 9

So...Dean was in an awkward position right about now. Piper, Tish, and Jen were staring at him and the vegetarian vampire, and he didn't really have a way to explain why exactly they were interrogating some poor guy in the back of an alley at night.

'Uh, hey guys?' He tried for his patented cheesy, charming smile, that would either get him out of trouble via the girls either snorting out laughter, or them rolling their eyes and muttering something along the lines of "my gosh, Prietly's an idiot." This time though when he looked hopefully over at them, Jen averted her eyes, Tish uncomfortably cleared her thoat and Piper was blushing. Weird.

'F-first off,' Tish began ,'What's with the getup,huh?'

 

Dean looked down at himself confusedly, wondering why his friends were acting so strange, when he realised that they had never seen him in anything but T-shirts, surfer shorts, and even the occasional kilt. Not to mention that his hair was a legitimatlely natural color.

'Oh, right, well, this is how I used to dress.' He muttered, while self conciously rubbing the back of his head.

Damn he wasn't used to this, feeling so exposed in front of his friends. Just as he had felt really awkward around his family dressed as Prietly so did he feel just as strange in front of his friends dressed as Dean.

He never expected for this to happen, for him having to explain to each side tendencies that were normal to them but strange and foriegn to the opposing side. Tish, Trucker, Piper, and Jen knew the fun, care free, if a little bit of a slacker Priestly, Dad and Sam only knew the tough, hardened and yet responsible always trying to save the day Dean.

He didn't know if he was gonna be able to keep both sides up at the same time. He had always been one or the other. Granted he had been Dean for the first 26 years of life, but he had been Priestly the most recently. He couldn't just switch them on and off.

He chanced a look at the girls and grimaced at their surprised looks. Yeah, this was gonna be fun.

Tish nodded and then came to a descision about something. 'Well. . . .you look nice.'

Dean nodded his head slowly. 'Thanks?'

They just continued to stare at him until Piper pointedly nudged her arm and Tish seemed to snap out of it. 'Right, so Priestly, we were wondering...who is your friend?' At this she looked over his shoulder at Sam who was still restraining Jeff and frowned at how it must look to them. Which it was exactly how it looked but they didn"t need to know that.

'Oh him?' He feigned ignorance for just a little bit while silently communicating with Sam about what to do with this new development.

He stared at Sam, furrowing his brow asking wordlessly what they should do, to which Sam responded by just shrugging his shoulders as if to say "hey they're your friends". Stupid unhelpful little brothers.

Tish rolled her eyes, 'Yes, him.'

Dean was about to explain when he relaised what the girls were wearing. 'Whoa, you guys look hot!' He stated vehemently.

Tish had on what would be considered a very low cut white shirt for anyone else, but on Tish was actually pretty modest. Also her long long legs were actually covered in a pair of jeans no less, and Dean found that he liked that infinitely more then when she was flouncing around in her exscuse for a pair of shorts which couldn't have been more than three inches worth of material all together.

Piper wasn't wearing her typical t-shirt and jeans, and had her blond hair down. She had on make-up but the pink in her cheeks was definetly from a natural blush and not from some powder. He smirked when he noticed it wasn't him that she was looking at but Sam. He grinned a little wider when he noticed that Sam was staring right on back, not bothered in the slighest that he could have been making her uncomfortable with the intense stare, but wasn't. His brother always did have a thing for blondes. Honestly those two could have been in their own little universe at this point for all the attention they were paying to the outside world.

And it seemed the same could be said for Jen and Jeff. Jen was, wow, Jen had her hair down and even the tiniest hint of make-up on from what he could tell and she looked amazing. But not becasue of her actual outward appearance but rather because when she looked at Jeff, her entire face lit up with a radiant smile. He had never seen her look so happy. He kinda grimaced a little despite seeing the joy on her face. Looked like she figured out that she found her Fuzzy...he just HAD to be a freakin' vampire didn't he?

'Thanks,'Tish muttered for the group while Jeff and Sam nodded in agreement behind him.

'And to answer your question, this is Jeff, and old...friend of ours.'

Jeff looked up at him in surprise and gratitude, and Dean could just see it in his eyes that he had been expecting to be painted as a bad guy. Dean only nodded at him, trying to reassure him that yes, he was trusting him, if only slightly, at this point in time.

'But are you...?' This time it was Jen who spoke and everyone turned to look at her in surprise, if only because she had been so silent before.

'You're Ladybugger.' Jeff whispered happily, his blue eyes twinkling underneath the glare of the streetlight overhead. At Jen's cautious nod he broke out into a huge smile that, to Dean and Sam's relief, revealed no fangs. Just utter happiness.

'I-..' He started forward, but Sam's hand was still on his shoulder restraining him. He looked back at him, and seemed to almost plead with his eyes. Sam softened a bit and looked at his big brother. Dean inclined his head at him and Sam let Jeff go.

'I'm, uh, well uh, you might know me as Fuzzy22?' He asked her hopefully.

He was standing in front of her now, and a feeling of looking at something so...private, made Dean feel as if he should give them some alone time. Tish was apparently feeling the same way as she was gesturing towards him in a manner that seemed to convey that she wanted the rest of them to leave so Ladybugger and Fuzzy22 could continue their conversation in peace.

Dean wanted to let Jen have a nice romantic relationship that made her exceedingly happy, he really did. But there was no way in hell that he was going to let his friend be alone with a vampire, no matter how nice and polite he seemed.

Which is why he was certain he was going to get murdered by Piper and Tish after he interrupted this lovely touching moment.

'Alright!' He exclaimed loudly, breaking up the intimate atmosphere Jeff and Jen were creating and soon had everyones eyes on him. 'Well, I'm beat Sammy. I feel like I could hit the sack. What do ya say Jeff?'

'Huh? What are you talking about?' Tish asked.

'Well me and Sammy here haven't seen Jeff in a long long time,' at this he pointedly looked at the other two, 'I thought it'd be nice for us all to catch up.' He stated while trying to look innocent. Jen seemed dissappointed at this, and Dean's heart clenched at the look on her face. He really didn't want to make Jen sad. I'll make it up to you Jen, he promised silently in his head, I really will. He couldn't explain why he was messing up something that Jen had been so obviously looking forward, without telling them about all the nastiness and evil out in the world, so he wasn't going to try. He didn't mind looking like a bad guy as long as his friend was kept safe.

'But Dean,' Tish said in an overly sugary voice through gritted teeth, 'Don't you think it would be nice for Jen to get to know...' She looked at Jeff pointedly.

'Jeff.' The vampire supplied helpfully.

'Jeff, right. Wouldn't it be nice to let Jen and Jeff have some time to catch up as well?' She smiled sweetly at him but he could see right through it to the murderous intent she gave off if he messed this up for Jen.

'Sorry.' He smiled guilty. 'But Jeff already agreed to stay with us.' He stepped forward and put his arm over Jeff's shoulder. 'Haven't ya Jeff?'

'Huh? Oh, yeah. Right.' He looked so sad for a moment that Dean almost relented. Then the convient little rememberance of 'oh yeah, vampire' popped into his head. That and the other vampire that was running around murdering people kept him from caving in. My gosh, the combined unhappy stares of Jen and Jeff were potent.

'Yeah, um, how about a raincheck on that?' He smiled sheepishly at her and was convinced that she was about to rip him a new one when Jen spoke again.

'Actually that's a good idea.' She looked over in Jeff's direction but didn't actually meet his eyes. 'Maybe we could do this some other time?' She shrugged and looked at the ground and omigosh Dean felt like the biggest douche in the world right now.

Jeff nodded in agreement. 'Yeah, that sounds good. I guess I'll talk to you later then?' He smiled at her, but she still wasn't really looking at him but let out a vague noise of agreement.

It was awkwardly silent for a few seconds there. Sam and Piper were still looking at each other but then started to actually seem to notice the tension building around them. Jeff and Jen basically looked like a pair of puppies that had gotten yelled at and Priestly was trying really hard not to make eye contact with Tish, who he was certain at this moment could contain the capacity to gain freaky mind powers and blown him up with but a thought.

'So! I guess we'll see you guys when we get back to Santa Cruz?' Sam asked, desperate to break up the tense atmosphere.

Jen and Piper sighed togther morosely while Tish just continued to glare. 'Yeah. See you guys later.' And finally, finally! His friends walked away.

Now that they were alone again he let out a breath he didn't realise that he had been holding.

'Well,' he said to Jeff, 'Believe it or not that wasn't the hard part.'

Jeff looked at him confusedly. 'What do you mean?'

Sam grimaced and looked towards the direction of their motel. 'Now you get to meet our dad.'

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~(0)~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!

 

Tish was pissed. That much was evident from the way she huffed and puffed while pacing the sand outside the Cosmobile, and occasionally muttered to herself. Who...the HELL...did Priestly think he was!

She knew that she shouldn't be the angriest one about his antics but that Jen should be,but she couldn't help herself. Especially when Jen was silent and always so willing to forgive. Even now when it was blatantly obvious that Priestly had deliberitely sabotaged her date! Arrghhh! Since Jen wasn't going to resent Priestly then she would do it for her.

Right now Piper and Jen were sitting on the pinic table next to a blazing fire, the oranges and reds of the flames reflected in their eyes as they stared at the blaze they had gotten going. Piper had Jen's head on her shoulder and was slowly running her hand through her hair in a comforting gesture. Tish sighed softly looking at her best friends and sat on the table as well to join them.

'Don't worry Jen.' She stated confidently as she too began to stroke her friend's hair. 'We're are gonna give you and Jeff the best date ever. As soon as we get back, and Sam and Priestly stop hogging him.'

'Yeah, we'll even get Trucker to interrogate him while he waits for you to finish getting ready. Maybe we could even buy a prop shotgun to give a more authentic feel.' Piper teased lightly.

Jen let out a little chuckle at that but then shook her head. 'No, it's okay. I don't think I wanna see him again.'

Piper and Tish looked at her in shock. 'But...but why?' Piper finally voiced after not being able to get her mouth to work properly. Jen had just met her dream man and she didn't want him!

But Jen just shrugged her shoulders. 'It just wouldn't ever work for us.'

'Didn't you like him? Was there something that you saw but we didn't?' Piper didn't think that there had been anything that off putting about him.

'No, Pipe, it was just...' She shook her head as if to clear it, and Tish and Piper become alarmed when they realised that there was thin film of tears covering her eyes. 'I already could tell that it wouldn't have ever worked out between us.' She finished shakily.

'What? Are you crazy? Jen, Jeff was freaking perfect!'

'I know! That's the fucking problem!' She snapped at them shocking them into silence. For a few moments all you could hear was the crackle of the fire beside them, the roar of the ocean waves rolling in, the wind rushing along the shore filling their ears.

'I wasn't expecting to see Brad fucking Pitt standing there alright?' Jen finally continued.

'Jen, I...' Piper was confused. Wasn't it a nice plus that the person Jen got along with so famously online turned out to be a hot guy?

'I don't understand...'Tish stated resignedly.

Jen let out a snort of derursion. 'I wouldn't expect YOU to understand.' She said bitterly, the sour tones not suiting her sweet nature at all.

'What's that supposed to mean?' she asked a little angrily.

'I mean, that once he had gotten a nice long look at me, he would have been dissapointed. It was pretty dark in that alley guys, once I got into the sunlight he would've regreted talking to me in the first place. Guys like him don't go for girls like me.'

'I'm sorry, but that's bullshit.'

'Is it? When was the last time you didn't go to prom, if only becasause no one asked you? When was the last time a guy tried to look over you just to get a chance to talk to me. Until you've had that happen,' she took in a deep breath, 'don't tell me that's bullshit.'

Piper jutted out her chin resolutely and stubbornly stated, 'You know what Jen? I agree with Tish.'

Tish and Jen looked at her with shock. 'You do?'

'If you didn't see how that guy looked at you back there, then I'm sorry you must be blind. He adored you, Jen. He adored you even before he met you, couldn't you tell? Couldn't you see how happy he was to have finally met you?'

'Pffsst, yeah and then we'll go out for coffee, and talk about the weather, make polite conversation and then when it's over he'll never have to see me ever again.'

'Dammit Jen!' Piper did not get this. She wasn't lying when she said all those things, seeing Jeff look at Jen you'd think that he had never seen the light before and all of a sudden here was his personal sun.

'Well, didn't you notice it?' Jen asked as she picked at a loose thread on her jeans.

'Notice him completely in love with you already? Yeah, got that memo already.'

Jen shook her head. 'Didn't you see how eager he was to leave once Priestly offered him an out?'

Tish was going to murder Priestly...slowly. 'They were just old buddies catching up.' She offered weakly,honestly not knowing what that had been about.

'It's called being a wingman. They obviously knew Jeff well enough that they could tell he wanted to get out of there.'

'Jen,' Tish sighed, 'I have no idea why the boys decided to drag your date off, but I can tell you right now, even I thought it was obvious...'

Jen and Piper looked up waitig for her to finish.

'...he really, really didn't want to go.'

 

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~(0)~!~!~!~!~!~!~~!~!~!~!~!~

Dean gritted his teeth as he sat there in the motel room, his father and Sam researching while Jeff sat on the other bed staring at the news. It was quiet right now, for a few blessed minutes there was silence but any second now it would start up again and he had already used the bathroom exscuse three times already. There would be no escape...

Any second now he would-

'And did you just see how her hair glowed?'

'Arrghhh! Okay that's it!' He was going to freaking murder that vampire!

EARLIER. . . . . . . . . . . . .

'So that was Ladybugger?' Jeff asked with awe in his voice. For the thousandth time.

'Yes,' Dean confirmed, 'That was Ladybugger. So how are we gonna do this Sam? Keep the vamp outside while one of us goes inside to explain?'

Sam frowned a little bit, the furrow between his eyebrows growing deeper. 'Well, I'm thinking maybe you should stay outside with Jeff, and I'll explain the situation. Try and get him on our level.'

'I mean...her sheer radiance...why is she working in a sandwich shop?' Jeff continued walking behind them.

'Yeah, yeah, radiance.' Dean muttered, but he there was something bothering him about what Sam just said. 'That's good and all, but why are you the one doing the explaining?'

Sam quirked an eyebrow at Dean's questioning. 'I just think it might go a little bit smoother if I do the talking...' he trailed off.

'Did you know she loves classic cars, and Shakespeare. Cars! And Shakespeare! How amazing is that! She is so unique!' Okay the vampire was starting to get a little bit annoying now and they were only about a quarter of the way back to the motel.

'Yay, unique, anyways,' He loved Jen, but Jeff was going a wee bit overboard, especially when they were supposed to be focusing on a murdering bloodsucker right now. He turned towards Sam. 'No offense, but usually when you and Dad talk it usually ends in a fight or one of you storming off.'

Sam shifted a little uneasily. 'Yeah, well, things change. People mature.' And started walking again.

Dean stayed behind for a moment and then caught up with them. This was a seriously different development. Truth be told he always felt a little uneasy leaving Sam and his dad alone in a room together for more than a couple of hours. Sam was just like their dad, he knew this, and when you have two people who are natural born leaders and always know that their way is best come togther there were bound to be a few issues. Example, Sam leaving for Stanford after a huge fight, John telling Sam never to come back...the usual.

Whenever they got into one of their moods and the anger was still there, he was the one that talked his dad and brother down, got them to calm. Re-established the peace. That was his job.

And now Sam wanted to talk their dad into letting a vampire help them on this case? He had a feeling this wasn't going to work well.

'I have so much to talk to her about...'Jeff said dreamily. 'The way she views the world, it's just so...different. No wonder I'm able to talk for hours to her. If I could I would talk to her for days.'

He was about to gag on the sweetness.'Alright dude! We get it!' Sheesh, give him a break from the mushy romantic crap please, he pleaded silently in his mind. This was worse than a freakin disney princess movie.

All too soon they reached their motel room, the curtains doing little to block the light from the lamp coming from inside. Great, so their Dad was still up, least he wouldn't be in a pissed off mood from being woken up. That was a plus right?

Sam took a deep breath and let it out. 'Ok, so you guys wait here, alright? I'm just gonna...'He shook his head and steeled his shoulders. 'I'm going in.'

'We'll be right here Sasquatch.' Dean added encouragingly.

'Right.'

Sam opened the door and the night was filled with bright artificial light for a moment and then was gone.

Dean leaned against the wall next to the room and sighed, Jeff choosing instead to stand near the curb, in a stance, if it was any indication to him, that was prepared to run if something were to go wrong with the proceedings going inside of the room at the moment.

'Hey Dean?' Jeff asked quietly.

'What?'

'You don't want me to see Jen, do you?' Hurt slightly filled his voice, making the fiersome predator resemble a little boy more than a who-knows-how-old man.

'Man, I don't even know you.' He hated these kinds of things. 'Jen doesn't even really know you. And your one of the things that I would usually hunt. Yeah, I don't think I want you seeing her.' He had to be honest, he didn't want to see this developing anymore than it already had.

'But you're working with me.' Jeff tried.

'Yeah, only because we don't really have a choice, and I'm not even sure that's gonna happen yet. My Dad's one stubborn sob.' He smiled at that.

'I know you guys don't completely trust me,' Dean snorted a that, 'But can't you at least give me a chance?'

Dean rolled his eyes. He didn't think that he needed to be giving chances out to monsters. Apparently some of this showed on his face because Jeff tried again.

'Listen, I get that she's your friend and you want to protect her. I understand that, I really do. But you can't protect everybody all the time, man. And I would never hurt her. I know all of you guys consider this our first meeting but I've been talking with her for years. I've gotten to know her better than I've known anyone else, and I'd like to think that she would say the same about me. Now all I'm asking for is not even a chance, but just an oppurtunity to show you how good I could be for her.'

Jeff looked so earnest, his wide blue eyes showing only sincerety in his words, and Dean was almost sucked in. Almost.

'Still a vamp, Jeff.'

'Dammit, not all monsters are evil!' Jeff shouted, finally losing some of his composure.

'Yeah?' Dean stalked angrily towards him. 'Experience and instinct tell me differently.'

'You've never even given us a chance!'

'Why the hell would I give any sort of monster any sort of chance! Ghosts, goblins, shapeshifters, vampires, werewolfs, demons...they're all the same. Anything even freaking touched by it should be brought down and killed. Fuck any chance to,' he held up his fingers in the quotation marks sign, 'prove themselves.'

He finally looked at Jeff again who was looking at the ground. Finally he spoke. 'One day Dean, those words will come back to haunt you, I'm sure of it.'

'Yeah, well, don't hold your breath.' He responded, all the fight having left him.

It was right about that moment that Sam stuck his head outside the door. 'Come on in.' He said quizzically.

'Everthing good?' He hedged.

'Yeah...' Sam look a wee bit shell shocked. 'He actually...uh, he actually took it pretty well.'

'He's not possesed is he?' Dean asked half jokingly, half seriously.

But Sam shook his head. 'Nah, he just...I guess that other coven must have really convinced him, or something.'

'Weird.' Dean muttered under his breath and led him inside.

NOW. . . . . . . . .

'But Dean, I mean you've worked with her, she is amazing!' Jeff tried to explain as he was chased around the room by a pissed off Dean. Why can't he just be quiet for two seconds? That's all he want's!

Sam blocked his pathway when he tried to get to his duffle where he kept his faithful machete.

'Dean, don't kill the vampire.' John ordered distractedly from where he was scouring the newspaper.

And it was quiet for a few seconds...

Then...'And her eyes...'

'AAHHHHHH!!!'


	10. Chapter 10

Piper woke the next morning to a creak in her neck, the sun in her eyes and grumbling as she picked up her cell phone to check the time.

8:08

Huh, she thought sleepily, more time to sleep in...

Shit! She thought as her eyes widened and she looked at the phone again. Groaning she flopped back onto her blanket next to where Tish and Jen had been earlier. She already knew it was going to be a suckish day.

Now, Piper wasn't a superstisious person per se, but she did have this one thing that she followed almost religiously, and that was that anytime time the number 8 appeared in any significance she knew she was screwed.

Always...

It had been on August eighth when she lost her virginity to her nineteen year old boyfriend. They had been going out for three months and it had been the longest relationship she had ever had at age fifteen. Logan would whisper sweetly in her ear how much he loved her, how precious she was to him, while simultaneously trying to discreetly shove his hand down the front of her jeans.

Laughingly she would pull it back up and wag her finger in front of his face. But baby, he would say, don't you love me? She would sigh and say, of course she did, but that didn't mean that they had to have sex. Her mom had been seventeen when she had had Piper and she wasn't looking to be a another teenage mom.

Famous last words.

So after much pleading, (and whining, let's be honest here), she had given in and was dumped not two weeks later. She never heard from him again, even after she tried to reach him and let him know that she was pregnant.

And then, after eight months, a pre-mature baby girl was born on April sixteenth at 8:08 p.m. and then taken away.

That...that had hurt. The feeling of having something so precious and loved growing inside of her, it was overwhelming. And then, to never have a chance to see that wonderful being again? It ripped her heart out, even if she knew it was for the best.

But now. . . .eight years later no less...she had found her little girl once again. Sitting alone in the Cosmobile she couldn't help letting a smile break out on her face thinking about Julia. Knowing she was so incredibly lucky to be in her daughter's life again, even if she wasn't aware of who she was.

She had come here to California with the intent of finding her daughter after her mother had passed away. Course her mom had passed away on August eighth as well, because life just sucked like that. She had found her daughter, but in the meantime she had also found a home.

Her friends were the best ones anyone could ask for. Loyal to a fault and loving, they made each day a little bit brighter. Trucker with his almost father-like tendencies, caring and giving out sage advice. Tish, and her confidence, not only in herself but in Piper as well, made her think that was what having a big sister must be like. The same could be said for Jen, although she was definitely the more responsible one. And of course Priestly was everyone's big dorky older brother.

Piper chuckled when she thought of how Priestly was actually an older brother and how some of his protective tendencies now made sense. She snorted a little bit though at the thought that Sam would ever need someone to watchout for him, giant as he was.

She wasn't even aware that she was blushing as she thought about the big little brother, his sweet nature that she had glimpsed so far, and the way he in turn was protective of Priestly. She couldn't believe how tall he was, how built his body seemed to be. It was kinda hard not to notice, especially when Priestly dragged his shirt up in front of everyone and showed his abs. His very cut abs.

Crap, she was so in lust.

She barely even knew the guy, but man, she was positive she would like to get to know him better...but no. Bad Piper, she scolded herself, that was Priestly's brother. Dating your friends siblings was a big no no, besides it wasn't even like Sam was interested, or even looking to date anybody. They hadn't even had a conversation alone yet either! So why couldn't she get the image of his smiling dimpled face out of her mind?

Okay, seriously, two days, sheesh Piper, get a hold of yourself.

But that was okay, she decided, it wasn't like she was ever gonna do anything about it...maybe.

Besides...she had seemed to get the sense that maybe Noah, Julia's father, had seemed interested. That was...unexpected and at the time, not completely unwelcomed. She had been flattered, smiling shyly at him whenever he stared at her a little longer than necessary, but the more it went on, the more she realised that she genuinely enjoyed his company...as a friend. Soon she would have t make that a little bit more clear for him, and hope that it wouldn't interfere with her and Julia's budding relationship.

Being on the good side of the father of your daughter was definitely a plus. And even better if she could cultivate the friendship that they had growing, the easy camaderie she felt when they hung out making it all that much more easier.

It was definitely not the same thing that she had felt in Sam's presence so far... suddenly she found her self back in the sandwich shop to when Priestly lifted up Sam's shirt.

Seriously Piper! Perverted much?

She shook her head to clear it of the image of Sam's abs, but did it a little bit too forcefully because she knocked her head against the side of the van.

'Ow...'She muttered lowly, rubbing the sore spot that was beginning to form. Sighing she rested her head against the door of the van, waiting for the pounding to stop.

'That was smart Piper.' She grumbled to herself. Which was right around when Jen and Tish returned from wherever they went and opened the Cosmobile's door. Piper tumbled out onto the ground at Jen and Tish's feet with a slight screech.

'Omigosh, Piper! Are you okay?' Tish asked in a concerned voice while both girl's dropped everything and went to help her up.

'Yeah,' She said as she tried to spit sand out of her mouth, and move around enough so that she was sitting upright. 'I'm fine.'

'You're bleeding.' Jen pointed out.

Piper looked down at her elbows and knees, which were pretty badly scraped up. Grimacing she wiped off the blood with the tail end of her t-shirt. 'Great.' She said under her breath.

'Sorry about that.' Jen said as Tish helped her up. 'Wasn't expecting you to be leaning against the door like that.'

'It's fine.' She tried to assure them as she dusted her clothes off. 'Where did you guys run off to anyway?'

'We went to go get some breakfast, but we didn't wake you up 'cause you looked really tired. We got you something though, don't worry.' Tish looked around in confusion, searching for something.

'What're you looking for?' She asked as she went to brush her fingers throught her hair...and felt something slimy instead.

Jen and Tish were looking at her with looks of pity and disgust. 'Guess we found your jelly donut.' Tish muttered.

Piper tried to get it off, but it was to no avail. Silently storming she stomped of towards the direction of the ocean.

'Uh, Pipe? You don't have a bathing suit on. We didn't bring any, remember! We weren't planning on going for a swim!' Jen shouted uselessly at her back and she stalked towards the waves. When she reached them she didn't even hesitate, just marched straight in and once she was waist deep, dunked her head under.

She stayed there for a second, her eyes screwed shut, letting the water wash over her and clean her. Finally after a minute she lifted her head up with a gasp and pushed her hair back from her face. Feeling a lot better she made her way towards the van.

'Impromptu bath?' Tish questioned as she walked by. She just shrugged and toweled off in the back of the van.

Once she was changed she crawled back out. 'So, what's on the agenda for today?'

Jen and Tish shrugged. 'Sight seeing?'

'Alright, sounds fun.' She agreed.

16 hours later...

THIS WAS NOT FUN AT ALL! Piper screamed into her head as she was chased down the beach that night. Dammit, she knew this days was gonna suck! She just hadn't counted on it being meant literally!

8 hours earlier...

Piper's day hadn't improved much since the bad start this morning.

So far she had stepped in dog crap...twice, gotten stung by a bee, had been accused of shoplifting, forgot to put on sunscreen and became a lobster as a result, had eaten a bad taco, almost got run over by a car but luckily it just ran over foot on which she was now limping, and now she had gotten seperated from Tish and Jen.

She looked up at the sky and questioned 'why? why me?'. Which of course led to a man running into her.

'Whoa, uh hey, sorry about that.' The guy apologised as he used his hands to steady her.

She was not having a good day and jerkface wasn't helping! 'Watch it buddy!' She snapped at him, even though she immediately regretted doing so. Especially when she looked up to see a drop dead gorgeous guy staring down at her. 'Oh, uh, I mean...' She trailed off...

But Mr. Hunky just smiled at her. 'Are you okay?' He asked while smiling down at her with a movie star smile. His blonde hair was almost white and his light blue eyes seemed to twinkle at her. He was around her age and deeply tanned, most likely a surfer.

'Uh, yeah. M'fine.' She said shyly, completely aware that he was checking her out.

He chuckled at that. 'Hmmm...yeah you really are.'

She scowled beneath her blush. Good looking guy is flirting with her, she looked him up and down, scratch that, ridiculously goodlooking guy is flirting with her, all while she still had the remains of dog crap on her sandal and getting more sunburned by the second. Hmmm, maybe her day was starting to look up in a twisted sort of way if he could ignore all of that.

'Wow, you're just so original aren't you?' Raising an eyebrow she challenged him.

But his smile only brightened more. 'I try to be.'

They were people moving around them, but the two just stood there. Finally hot guy spoke and stuck out his hand. 'So, I'm Shawn.'

Hesitantly she shook his hand. 'Anna.' She offered, not about to give her real name to a complete stranger.

'Anna.' He tested it out on his tounge.'Yeah, doesn't suit you.' He finally said.

'W-what?'

'I think you're lying, but that's okay. Can't be too careful these days.'

Without even really aware of it she found herself walking beside him, farther from the crowds and bustling street.

'How do you know if I'm lying?'

He grinned and sped up his walking, forcing Piper to catch up, for some strange reason not wanting to be left behind. 'Sometimes you just can tell..' He trailed off as he looked around them. She looked to and noticed they were behind a building now and completely alone. 'Could almost smell it on you...' He continued.

Okay, that right there, creeped her the freak out. She wanted to back away, to go find people and surround herself with the crowd again, but it was like she couldn't move.

'You hurt yourself today, didn't you Piper?' He asked convversationally. She nodded, not finding it all that strange that he knew her first name without her ever having told him.

'I f-fell.' She answered breathlessly as he suddenly crowded up into her space.

'You bled?' he inquired as he sniffed along her neck.

Personal space! Personal space! She screamed inside her head. Her bubble has just been popped! But she didn't want to move, her body was immobile, her feet almost like they were glued to the ground.

'Yeah, I can tell.' He traced his finger on her elbows and knees where she grazed them this morning. Then he brought his finger up and licked it! Piper's eyes widened and whatever spell that had caused her to not be able to move shattered right then, and she pushed him back away from her with all of her strength.

'Ugh! Get away from me you freak!'

Shawn looked so confused as she fought back. 'What? How are you able to-' And then broke off because Piper kneed him in the groin.

She ran away as fast as she could, tears starting to blur her vision as she came once again upon civilization. She stopped running, but powerwalked to the nearest store she could find and ducked in it, looking behind her shoulder every couple of seconds making sure the psycho wasn't following her.

In the store she looked out the window and when one of the saleswoman came up to her and asked if she was alright, she just shakily nodded her head and asked to use their phone.

Once she had reached Tish's cell she told them where she was, but they were on the other side of town, having walked a fair distance looking for Piper since they had gotten seperated. They said they would be there as soon as possible, but Piper really didn't want to be here alone that long so she called Priestly.

It rang once, twice, three times, and she was terrified that he wasn't going to pick up. Finally a masculine voice answered.

'Hello?'

'P-priestly?' She asked shakily.

'Sorry he's kinda busy right now, can I take a message?' The warm voice asked.

She let her head flop into her hand, exhausted beyond belief. 'Just tell him Piper called and-'

'Piper? It's Sam. Listen Dean's gonna be back any minute, are you okay? You sound pretty bad.'

'Thanks a lot,' She half laughed, half sobbed at ,while wondering who the heck Dean was when, oh yeah, same person popped into her head. Duh. 'I'm fine.' She whispered. 'Just, me and the others got seperated earlier in the city and then some guy started talking t-to me, and he got me alone and...and-'

'Holy crap!' Sam interrupted. Concern very evident in his voice as he questioned her. 'Did he hurt you! Touch you! Are you alright Piper?'

'I-i'm fine now. He just...he was just really creepy.' Suddenly something occured to her. 'Omigosh, I didn't even notice till now, but he knew my name! He asked me for it before hand but I just told him my middle name! How the heck...' Did she have a stalker? Was she being followed? Omigosh.

'Piper? You still there?' Sam asked, his reassuring voice filling her with calm.

'Yeah, and then, um-...Then he sniffed my neck. My gosh Sam he was such a creep! He asked me if I hurt myself today, and I did, but why the heck did that even matter! I skinned my elbows and knees earlier and he t-touched where I was hurt and then he LICKED HIS FINGERS!'

Piper was out of breath, saying all that in one go, and was waiting for Sam to speak. But when a minute went by filled with nothing but silence she started to get worried.

'S-sam?'

'Yeah, yeah hold on. Dean just came back.' She could hear voices in the background as Sam quickly relayed everything to Dean. A loud 'WHAT!' reached her ears and she could tell the phone was being jostled.

'Piper?'

'Hey Priestly.' She answered softly, no longer as hysterical as she once had been.

'Where are you Pipes?' She told him the adress. 'We're on our way. Don't go anywhere, don't let anyone take you anywhere. We'll be there in ten minutes top.'

'Thank you Priestly.'

She could hear what sounded like a car door being shut and then a rev of an engine. 'We gotcha Pipes.'

'Ok.' And then she hung up.

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'Drive faster.' Dean gritted out at Sam, glancing at the speedometer and then glaring at it, as if somehow that would make them suddenly not be in traffic.

'I'm going as fast as I can Dean.' Sam replied in a deceptively calm voice.

'Well. . . . screw you tiny purple car!' He suddenly shouted as a teenager in a violently violet volkswagon bug cut them off.

Sam just shook his head at his brother, letting a small smile grace his lips, even though on the inside he was completely consumed with worry.

They had left Jeff with their father in the hotel room, not wanting to exspose him to sunlight. Well, Sam and their Dad not wanting to exspose him to sunlight. Dean hadn't really cared one way of the other. He and Sam had driven all over town that day, looking over the places where the bodies had been found by Jeff, while their dad and the vamp looked over the morgue reports and the crime scene photos of the few murders that had been found by the police.

It hadn't been that many. The cops had found four, maybe five victims that had evidence of being exsanguished, but by then the bodies were so unrecognisable and rotting that nothing was concrete. Jeff had brought seventeen more bodies to the station's steps, and the local media had had a field day with that one.

Dean actually couldn't believe that he had missed it. Most days he usually would watch the news and read the papers before or after work, but he had been feeling so off lately that he would just sleep in as late as possible and go to bed early as well.

And the fact that he had missed something that was so evidently supernatural going on, a hunt right under his nose, was eating at him. Man, he was going to let the girls come down here. He had! And if if Sam and Dad hadn't shown up, there was no telling what could've happened. Jen met a freakin' vampire for freak's sake! How the heck he could've let that happen he had no clue. Pretty much dropped the ball on that one. But from now on he was going to take better care of his family. Blood related or not.

Which led to now. Piper was in trouble. And the way she had described the creepy guy, it was abundantly clear to both Sam and Dean that they had their vampire. Oh, please let it just be one vampire, he thought. They were a more social group of monsters than most, usually having a couple of them together in a coven. It was going to be a lot harder to deal with if they had a group of them on their hands.

Actually now that he thougt about it why was Jeff alone? But before that thought could take a deeper root they arrived at the front of the shop Piper said she was in.

They looked at each other and then got out as quickly as they could, not really caring that they parked in a fire lane.

'Piper!' Dean shouted once he was inside the door, earning him quite a few stares, but he ignored them, especially when Piper suddenly filled his arms and was hugging him tightly. He squeezed back just as much, incredibly grateful that nothing had hurt her. He rested his chin on her head and slowly rocked her back and forth, almost as one would do with a child, but it seemed to do the trick. It comforted Piper and calmed her down, and Dean wasn't about to deny that it did the same for him.

All too soon he realised that her shoulders were shaking slightly and frowned as he realised that she was crying. Once he found that parasitic, damned creature of the night he was going to relish decapitating it...slowly. Nobody scared the girl he had adopted as his little sister, and got away with it.

'It's alright Pipes.' He reassured her as he led her to the Impala, Sam hovering closely behind them, seeming like he wanted to do something to help but also wanting to give them their space.

Once they were inside the car she started talking, letting it all out, almost as if she couldn't stop. 'Golly, I don't even know why I'm crying right now.' She said as she tried in vain to wipe away her tears. 'I mean. He didn't actually hurt me or anything. He just creeped me out.' Sam handed her a clean tissue he found in his pocket and she smiled gratefully at him, even though her lips still trembled. 'Dammit, they won't stop.'

'Piper, it wasn't okay for that guy to do those things to do. He was a freak for sure, so who knows what could've happened if you hadn't gotten away. There's absolutely no shame in you crying right now. As a matter of fact, I'd be concerned if you weren't.' He told her while looking in the mirror to meet her eyes in the back seat where she and Sam sat.

'Thanks Priest.'

'Say, just curious...how did you get away?' Sam asked.

Actually Dean was wondering about that too. Vampires were insanely strong, and possesed a type of allure that made it hard to say no them once you had caught their interest. Getting away from a vampire was extraordinarily diffucult, if not impossible, if one wasn't a hunter.

'I kneed him in the balls.'

It was quiet in the car for a few seconds before Dean let out a bark of laughter. 'Piper! That's my girl!'

TBC...


	11. Chapter 11

Unknown Hero Chapter 11

Dean and Sam had brought Piper back with them to the hotel room, informing Jen and Tish that they got her, and telling them the room number so they could meet up with them later. Jen and Tish of course wanted to know every single detail about the encounter, asking repeatedly if Piper was okay, stealing the phone from each other so much that he tossed the phone to Sam to deal with it. It made him grin to see how overwhelmed his little brother became from the barrage of questions, looking uncomfortable as he answered all their queries and reassured them that Piper was indeed alright, and no there wasn't a need to call the police, that they were handling it.

Sam glanced down as he talked at Piper, who had fallen asleep and was now resting her head on his shoulder. While they were at a red light Dean sneakily got out his phone and snapped a picture of the two of them, grinning madly as he did so. This one wasn't for blackmail though, this one was just for him.

They pulled into their motel's parking lot, and Sam was still talking to the girls. They were catching a bus and would be there in about a half hour tops. Dean frowned as he heard this last statement. That wouldn't be a lot of time to figure out this whole mess. He just hoped Piper wouldn't be too suspicious of their questioning.

'Pipes.' He said gently shaking her shoulder. 'Wakey, wakey eggs and baceyyyyy.'

' Leave me alone, otherwise your legs will breakyyyyy.' She grumbled as she woke up. 'Besides who cooks eggs and bacon at 4 in the afternoon?'

'Awesome people,' He stated seriously. 'And if one were to replace the bacon with ham and make it all green then it makes them doubly awesome!'

She just rolled her eyes at him, and then froze seeming to realise she was sleeping on Sam.

'Sammy of course would make them.'

'What? Why me?'

'Sam I am? Get with the program dude.'

'I'm amazed you even know any Dr. Suess books.' Sam muttered under his breath. They all got out and walked to their room.

'The man was a literary genius, Sammy.' He said as he walked through the door. Jeff and his dad glanced up in surprise as they noticed a third person with them, tense, but then relaxed when they both recognised Piper.

'What's she doing here, son?' His dad asked sternly.

'I think Piper can help us out.' He said meeting his father's gaze head on. Neither he or Sam had called their father yet, to inform of the situation, but now was a good as time as any. Even though he seemed to be taking Piper's presence more harshly than the freakin' vampire.

Piper looked between the two men confusedly. 'I can?'

Dean nodded. 'Yeah. I just need you to tell my dad and Jeff everthing that happened to you today.'

'But..'She looked down at her shoes and then up again. 'I don't want to talk about it anymore. It's over. Gone. In the past.'

'Piper..' Dean took a deep breath. 'Okay listen, cause I'm gonna explain some things. My dad, brother and I...well, we're...what you call...bounty hunters.'

Sam and John let out the breath they had been holding, certain that Dean was going to tell Piper something about their lifestyle and the mosters that routinely occupied it. Sam glanced at Dean and nodded, an approving gesture that made Dean more resolute in the cover story he had invented.

She looked at them with wide eyes, her stare saying 'yeah, nice one'. She opened her mouth to speak but Dean beat her to it.

'And before you say anything no this is not a joke. No I'm not lying.' His eye twitched at that last comment. Lying about lying, he could appreciate irony.

'So...you guys...are like Dog the Bounty Hunter?' She finally asked.

Sam and Dean looked offended, while John very discreetly rolled his eyes. Jeff just sat there, wondering who this bounty hunter was that was so apparently famous, and why his parents would subject him to such a name.

'Uh, no...we're awesome.' Dean said seriously.

'Not awesome enough to warrant your own show apparently.' She pointed out.

'Well, you're in a good mood again.' And at that Dean instantly wanted to punch himself as Piper's relaxed expression became tight and withdrawn once more.

'Piper,' Sam said softly, 'I know it may seem like Dean was just joking around, but he was serious. It's kinda like our family business. Jeff is helping us out on this case. We sorta investigate areas that have high numbers of deaths, and then look into police reports and interview people, and we get the bad guy. Simple as that.' He smiled at her.

' So you're telling me that there's a criminal running loose in Morrow Bay?'

She looked at them all and grimaced when John nodded slightly.

'And you think it was...you think it was the creep that almost molested me earlier!'

John and Jeff let out a 'What?' in unison at Piper's statement, while Sam and Dean nodded grimly.

'Oh, well, that's...' She moved in a daze over to the bed and sat down heavily, 'I mean, that's totally awesome. Mr. Creeperton is a criminal as well-'

'-killer.' Jeff added helpfully.

Piper just stared at him. 'Killer. Mr. Creeperton who was all up in my grill earlier is a murderer. That's...huh...great. It's not like my day was gonna get any better. What with the van, and the jelly donut..' All the guys looked at each other with confused expressions at the mention of the donut.' And a car! This stupid tiny purple car. RAN. OVER. MY. FOOT.' She held it up for them to examine.

Dean gasped. 'Was it a Volkswagon Beetle?'

She sighed. 'Yeah.'

'Damn that bug.' He muttered underneath his breath.

'So yeah, all in all, great day.' She finished her sarcastic speech. 'UGH!' And flipped herself onto her back on the bed and put her arm over her eyes. 'Wake me up when this day is over.'

'Uhh, we would love to let you sleep until we get back, but remember, we kinda need you to still answer some questions.' Sam requested hesitantly.

'Oh, right.'

Dean nodded at the vampire. 'Okay, it's all yours Jeff.'

'Alright Piper. First off, nice to meet you, my name's Jeff.' He held out his hand for her to shake. Dean grimaced at the vampire's attempt to act more human by mimicking politeness. He could pretend all he wanted, Dean had more than enough memories about the last vampires he had encountered with his dad and Sam. Forgive him if he wasn't more trusting, he thought as Piper's hand was swallowed by the bloodsucker's own large one.

'Yeah, I know. Good to meet you too. I gotta say though, it doesn't seem all that weird talking to you right now, considering hom much Jen has spoken of you.' Piper saw the small, but delighted smile that crossed Jeff's face and inwardly rejoiced, Jen really didn't have anything to worry about.

'So, let's get right into it shall we? Describe what happened, starting when the-...man approached you.'

Piper took a deep breath. 'Well, me and Jen and Tish were all out shopping and I had gotten seperated somehow, not really sure how that happened...but anyways I was just wandering around about to go into a store to use a phone since my cell was broken.' That had happened earlier when she had forgotten that her phone was in her pajama pant's pocket when she decided to take a dip in the ocean.

'Then I ran into this guy, and he started to talk to me, said his name was Shawn.'

'Can you please described what he look like?' Jeff interrupted not unkindly.

'Oh, right, he was uh...really, really blond. Like, he almost had white hair. Had really light blue eyes, was tan...I remember thinking he must have been a surfer. Oh, and he was really-' She cut off abruptly, embarrassed by what she had been about to say.

'What was that Piper?'

'Well, um...he was also...'

'Yes?'

'He was kinda hot alright? Like ridiculously good looking.' Her cheeks burned with the admission.

Jeff just nodded at that. Their kind had to be at least a little bit physically pleasing to the human eye, in order for people to get over the predator instinct they sensed when around them. Dean stifled a laugh at that, even though getting lured into a trap like that wasn't funny. Sam's expression when he heard this however, was hilarious.

'That's good, gives us a lot information when we're trying to find him. No need to be embarrased. Please continue.' He gestured for her to talk with his hand.

'Okay, after a while just started talking when he asked my name. I told him it was Anna, which is my middle name, because I just don't really give out my name to random guys on the street when I'm by myself.'

'Smart.'

'It was weird though. He said he could tell that I was lying but that it was okay. Then I realised we were behind this old building and alone. I didn't even notice I was following the guy!' She saw John and Jeff exchange glances, heavy with meaning, but decided not to comment. 'He started to get up in my space then. He asked if I had gotten hurt and bled. Then the creeper licked his fingers after touching my scabs! Ugh!' She shivered at the grossness facor of it.

'And that's it? He didn't do anything to you after that?' Jeff asked seriously, his eyes searching her face intently.

'Yeah, that's it. I got away and then called Priestly.'

Jeff's brow furrowed in confusion. 'Who's-?'

'Yeah.' Dean spoke up. 'That'd be me.'

'But I thought your name was Dean?'

'Yeah...long story, don't worry about it.'

'Ooookay...'

John frowned then glanced up suddenly at Piper. 'Wait a minute,' he said, for the first time adressing her,'how did you get away, girl?'

Piper scowled at him. 'My name's Piper. Not girl.' She was straddling the fence about Priestly and Sam's father. He seemed like he did care about his boys, but he was stern with them, almost militarilistic. And the whole thing with Priestly having been away from him for a couple of years spoke volumes. But then again Sam was in that equation too, and she had absolutely no qualms about Priestly's brother. The dad on the other hand... 'And I kneed him in the balls.'

'You-' John sputtered and Piper grinned at that, getting the feeling that John Winchester wasn't a man made speechless very often. '...got away from a-...a murderer by aiming for his bits?'

She jutted her chin out at him. 'Basic self defense classes. Get any guy in the groin and he's bound to go down.'

'Yeah...but..' he shook his head '...Jeff come talk with me for a bit.' John gestured for the younger man to follow him outside and didn't wait to see if he did.

As soon as the three of them were alone Dean came over and sat down next to her. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder as he brought up an arm to hold her with in a half hug.

'I'm really glad that you're safe Pipes.' He said affectionately. He looked up at Sam who was awkwardly standing still not sure of where he stood in all of this, and rolled his eyes, patting the place beside Piper on the bed, in clear gesture to sit. He smiled gratefully and took a seat, not touching them, but not completely out of the group either.

'Hey,' Piper spoke up adressing Dean, 'Does it bother you when I call you Priestly?'

Dean looked down at her in amusement as Sam paid closer attention to what Dean was going to say. 'Naw. That's what I've been called the past two years, and I picked the name out. So I hope I don't get bothered by it.'

'But...your real name is Dean, right?'

'Yep. Dean Joseph Winchester is on my birth certificate.' He grinned.

'Why did you change it?'

The question hung in the air for what seemed like a long time, but in actuality was only a few seconds as Sam held hid breath, awaiting Dean's answer.

Finally Dean just shrugged. 'Seemed like a good idea at the time.'

'Huh.'

'Why'd you choose Priestly?' Sam asked, wanting to know a little bit more about his brother, who, strangely and unwillingly, had become a bit of a mystery to him.

'Ah, well, just there was this old guy at this church that I ran into. He helped me out, talked to me a bit before I made it to California. Was a priest. And when Trucker offered me up a job he reminded me so much of the guy it was the first thing that popped into my my mind.' He laughed then suddenly. 'Man, I'm glad I didn't choose the guy's real name for my own, that would've sucked.'

'Why? What was wrong with his name?'

'His name was Boaz dude. Can you imagine? Do I look like a Boaz to you?'

Sam laughed aloud at that, and then soon Piper was joining in too. They were all doubled over with giggles when John and Jeff returned to the room a bit solemnly and then grinning a little at the sight before them. They let the three calm down before speaking.

'So,' John said, 'We've got a plan.'

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John waited until Jeff joined him then nodded towards the parking lot. 'Walk with me.'

Jeff started walking with him without protest, the both of them quiet. 'So definitely a vampire.' John stated.

Jeff snorted. 'Obviously.'

John hmmed at that. 'Too much of a coincidence that that girl, who happened to have met you last night got stalked by a vamp.'

'Definitely. I didn't smell anyone yesterday, but then again I was too busy being threatened by your boys with Dead Man's Blood to focus on my surroundings too closely.' He remarked wryly.

The proud father smirked at that. ' So I'd it's safe to assume that he must've overheard the conversation you had with Sam and Dean. Knew you were here, knew he was starting to piss you off.'

'He wanted my territory. That's what the body count was for. When a lone vampire encounters another lone vampire they tend to get angry, possesive. This is a way of trying to scare me off. It wasn't working, and then when hunters showed, at my doing no less, he probably figured it would make more of a statement to go after someone I knew.' He shook his head. 'That one's too stupid too realise Piper and I had just met, and that it was Jen that I have feelings for. Still...had he succeded...I would've been sad...and pissed.'

John nodded at the vampire's words, figuring them to be true. It said a lot about him that he was trusting a vampire now.

About a year and a half ago he and Sam had gone after a coven of vampires that they had thought been killing some locals in a small town. Met Gordon Walker there, and against his better judgement teamed up. Guy had always made him uneasy, he was more revenge driven, more psychotic and less ruled by morals than most hunters. Dangerous combination.

When Sam had been taken he had been out of his mind with worry, having come back to the motel earlier than expected. He had been running up the walls, trying Sam's phone, almost nauseated at the signs of a struggle that had taken place.

All he could think was not again. Not again. He couldn't take losing Sam too. He wouldn't survive.

But then Sam had shown up, a little bit worse for wear, nothing serious, and said that the vampires were harmless. Harmless! The vampires had kidnapped solely to convince him that they weren't drinking from humans and were safe. John had immediatley scoffed at the idea, not listening to his youngest's pleading to trust him, to believe him. It had been the closest to fighting they had come to since losing Dean.

He had been unaware that Gordon had been listening in. And when he and Sam had shown up at the nest, with Gordan torturing that poor girl, he had wanted to punch Gordan's face in. That she resisted drinking from a human, even with the drops of blood on her lips, refusing to even let them touch her tounge, he had been in awe.

After beating Gordon up and leaving him tied to a chair and helping the head vampire get her coven out of town, John was deeply disturbed. How many? How many, he thought, of the things he had killed, of the 'monsters', were actually decent, and kind and trying to fight against their own natures for the good of humanity?

From then on, he made sure that whatever it was that he was hunting, was absolutely, 100% evil, with no hope of redemption.

It had made him much more mellow since then.

Jeff next words made him come out of his musings. 'She got away.'

John frowmed and nodded.

'She shouldn't have been able to get away. A vampire's allure should be impossible to break.' He continued.

'Don't know what to tell ya. Although,' John grinned, 'I'm damned proud she did.'

Jeff smiled at that. Vampire's nuts were a weak spot, who knew?

He sombered up quickly enough. 'He's got her scent. Her taste.' He still couldn't figure out why Piper was the one the vampire went after of the three girls, and decided that it probably didn't matter. 'She's very easily trackable now.' Jeff mused, cutting his eyes towards John to see if he was picking up on what he was suggesting.

John sighed. 'Yeah he does.'

'You thinking what I'm thinking?'

He nodded. 'Bait.'

!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~-o-~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!

How did she get herself into these situations?

Honestly, standing in the middle of the beach by herself was not making her feel safe, AT ALL. Especially since it was night. She glanced at her watch, 12:02. Awesome.

She really should be back the Cosmobile with Tish and Jen, not out here freezing her butt off, despite the fact that she was wearing Sam's windbreaker, in the damp ocean breeze. But no, she was the one the killer had been after, she was the one who stupidly agreed to help out, Priestly and Sam's father and friend, despite the fact that they had both been against it completely.

All you really have to do is stand there, John reassured her. That's it.

But what about the police, she had questioned. Shouldn't there have been a buttload of cop cars here now.

But Jeff had shook his head, explaining that the police had already tried, and hadn't been able to do a thing about it.

Apparently this killer had a one track mind. Once he had a target he wasn't about to give up on it. And that target was her. He wouldn't hurt anyone else as long as she was alive, and he would find her. They made that part abundantly clear. Way to sugarcoat it guys, she had thought sacrcastically.

She slipped her hand into the pocket, feeling the needle they had given her, knowing that the vial was filled with a deep red liguid. What is it, she had inquired.

DMB was all the reply she had gotten, and an explanation that this was the only poison that could take this guy down, because apparently he was immune to all other types of drugs. Perfect.

She shivered and really wished she was with Tish and Jen right now, instead of on this stupid sand dune, where the others were convinced that Shawn would find her. How? She had no flippin' idea.

At least she wasn't truly alone. Sam and Prie-...Dean, had dug a sand trap about 20 yards away downwind and were monitering her every move while John and Jeff were idling in the Impala on the street, no more than a thirty second jog away.

They had all the equipment necessary to take down this guy. Piper had the needle for protection but wasn't really expected to do much but stand there. She was the freakin' lure.

'Well, hello there gorgeous.' A voice smooth as honey murmered out of the darkness. She spun sharply on her heels in the direction of the ocean, where the waves crashing disguised any sound that came towards her.

Shawn was immaculate in the moonlight. His so very blond hair appeared white with the moon beating down on his head, and his eyes seemed to fairly glow in the dark. He smirked as he approached her, not a hair out of place, or a grain of sand on his clothing. That's not fair she thought stupidly as a known serial killer approached her.

She gulped as he stopped ten feet away from her, just staring at her like she was desert. Okay, time to start acting.

Truth be told it wasn't the being the bait that made her cringe the most in this whole messed up deal. It was the fact that she was going to have to play along with this guy's fantasy. Just pretend you're completely enamored with the guy, Jeff had told her. Almost like you're under a love spell John suggested. The guy was apparently a wee bit schizo, and believed all of his victims were in love with him.

'Oh, uh..I'm sooooo glad you're here.' She gushed.

Shawn seemed pleased. 'Oh, don't worry sweetheart, I'm not so cruel as to subject you to being without my presence for long.'

She thinks she may have thrown up in her mouth a little.

'I-it's okay. Just please, don't, um...leave me for so long again.' This was sickening, she thinks she have made her ownself nauseated.

'I am soooo glad you were the one that I found first. Those other two girls, you're friends I presume?' He shuddered. 'I didn't want to go after them. Didn't smell right to me. Almost like a burning in my lungs when I got a whiff of them today. But you...you were pure.'

She really hoped the guys were gonna move soon, because Shawn was starting to walk towards her.

'Don't worry, I'll make it all better soon.' He said sweetly, and Piper might have bought it had she not remebered, oh yeah, murdering psycho.

'Yes. Make it all better.' She said and rolled her eyes.

Shawn stopped dead in his tracks, eyes narrowing in suspicion. He studied her face intensely, and then his face clouded in anger.

'You're lying.' He snarled, fury making his handsome features disort into something almost not human. 'I HATE liars.'

Oh shi-, was all she managed to get out before she started run away from the angry man.

Shit. Shit. She thought with every step as she raced to the sand trap where Sam and Priestly were hidden. It wasn't that far. She had walked the distance earlier with them so that was reassured that she would be fine. She didn't feel fucking fine right now!

Why was it so freakin' hard to run in the sand? Her calves burned from only a few steps, and already she could hear pounding footsteps right behind her. How did he move so fast!

Why the heck did she roll her eyes! Idiot!

On instinct she glanced back, only to wish she hadn't. He was right there! Right there! Where the hell were the guys!

Didn't anyone think to bring a fucking gun! She thought hysterically.

Just a bit closer, a bit closer almost to he sandtrap... and WHAM! She was tackled to the ground forcefully, a heavy weight on her back. She managed to turn around, so that she was at least facing him, intending to fight back with everything she had, but froze when she looked at him.

His face was ugly with rage, his eyes looking at her neck widly and his teeth...good Lord his teeth. It looked like dozens of razor sharp, needle point thin teeth were protruding over where his normal teeth had once been. They didn't resemble classic fangs in anyway, but still the thought came unbidden to her, monster.

And when he leaned down to sniff her neck and inhaled deeply, another word, vampire, penetrated the fog she was in.

No one is ever gonna believe this, she thought resignedly. Her tombstone couldn't very well say, 'Here lies Piper, Made a decent Tofurkey, and oh hey, killed by a Vampire'. What were the police gonna tell her brothers when they found her body? She flinched as she felt herself being licked, the tounge slimy on her skin. Or would there even be a body left? Would he eat all of her? Or did vampires just suck your blood?

Tears flowed down her cheeks, this really is the worst day ever, she thought as she prepared to die.

But suddenly she felt her body no longer pinned to the ground. Looking up she saw Sam and Priestly holding the vampire as John skidded to the ground beside her, immediately checking her neck for wounds.

The brothers looked, frankly, majestic in the light of the full moon as they rescued her. If anyone had asked her, then she felt she could safely say that that was the moment that lust might have turned into a little bit of something like love that she felt for Sam. Or maybe it was adrenaline from almost dying, one could never really tell.

Priestly stuck a needle identical to hers deeply into the vampire's neck and almost immediatley he stopped his struggles. Sam raised a machete, and where the heck was he hiding that anyway, and she knew with sickening clarity was about to happen, but suddenly her eyes were enclosed in black as John covered her eyes.

She heard a thunk, and then a thud. And all was quiet.

It was over.


	12. Chapter 12

Dean glanced over at Sam sitting in the driver's seat. It was just the two of them there, their father still back at his apartment catching up on some much needed sleep. So they had decided to take a day off. It had been a week since they got back from Morrow Bay and really needed a break.

It was extraordinarily surreal, Dean decided, seeing Sam driving while he himself was a passenger. But he supposed that's what happens after dissappearing for two years. Little brother inherits your car. He smiled at the window to his right, turning away from Sam to hide his grin, thinking about what Sam had mentioned on the way back from Morrow Bay.

He had finally noticed a blatantly obvious detail that he should have picked up immediately when he first saw his family again. The Impala was in near perfect condition. Last time he had been in her she was purring, flying down that highway, and even though he had been pretty much delirious from the pain of having his heart almost shredded completely up and blood loss, he still knew that she had been doing her job perfectly. Getting them where they needed to go and keeping them safe.

And then boom.

He knew of course what had happened although he had been unconcious by then. A semi had side swiped them, putting his dad in the hospital with him as well. Sammy had been okay, and even threatened to shoot the demon possesing the poor truck driver.

He knew all of this because the demon possesing the driver told him so himself.

Dean grimaced bitterly at that. Of course he hadn't taken the demon at his word, especially considering who he had willingly admitted to working for. So he had dug up the reports of the wreck and everything checked out. He hated it when demons lied.

He hated it even more when they told the truth. Thing was, he was starting to think he may have been told a little bit of both.

Truth was though that it didn't matter. He couldn't really let this go on for much longer. Because he knew one truth that was positively certain. If he was around his family for much longer then they were going to die.

Still at the moment he decided it couldn't hurt to be happy and left the angsting for the future.

What was making him happiest at the moment was that when he mentioned the Impala getting fixed dad had told him about how he and Sam had worked on it...Together. Until she was whole again. Nevermind that Sammy couldn't figure out a wrench from a jack, what mattered was that they did it, for him.

Figured you were so in love with the car that as long as she was alive and kicking then so were you, John gruffly said.

Dean refused to admit that it made his throat feel too tight, or that his eyes began to tear up. It was because the window was open and wind was blowing into his eyes of course.

He watched the scenery flying by, the blue of the ocean and the beige whitish color of the sand blurring together until they were almost indistinguishable. The windows were down and he could feel the warm breeze on his face, and smell the salt in the air, the scent of the sea that had become almost more familiar to him then the smell of gunpowder and fire.

He didn't really think things could get any better than this. His brother at his side, flying down the road, and knowing that at anytime they could turn around and his entire family would be waiting back at home. Funny, he never thought he would have one of those. Figured he would hunt until the day he died going out in a blaze of glory. Not that anyone would have ever known.

Still, there was something that made his heart clench a little.

Piper was avoiding him.

After Sam had made sure that the vampire was gone for good Jeff and his Dad had disposed of the body right there. It was so easy to do, falling back into a routine with his brother, working in tandem, knowing each other's moves so perfectly and able to coordinate them to the precise alignment. The teamwork was amazing.

But that hadn't been what Piper saw. She saw him kill something.

Granted that something had been trying to kill her in the first place, but still...seeing him and Sam kill something so humanlike, so effortlessly, that couldn't have been easy.

When they all returned back to the hotel they had taken turns getting cleaned up. Piper hadn't really spoken a word and Dean didn't try to make her. He knew what it was like to realise that monsters were real for the first time in your life. And finding that out by almost getting killed by one wasn't exactly the best way.

Sam and Dean had taken Piper back to the girls around 1 o'clock in the morning, claiming that they had all been just talking, and trying to help Piper calm down from what happened that afternoon. Jen and Tish had seen the state their friend was in and while it was obvious something was off they had figured it was from what had happened earlier.

Sam and Dean said their good byes and told them they would meet up with them at the shop the next day. Dean gave each of the girls a hug even though Piper was a little tense when he did so and Tish narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. He gave a shrug and she had sighed, seeming to let it go.

'What's up Dean?' Sam asked from beside him, startling him out of his thoughts.

'Nothing.' He muttered, fiddling with his lip ring. As soon as they had gotten back he had put all of his peircings in and had re-dyed his hair. He couldn't style it like he used to after cutting it, but he supposed it would do.

'Uh-huh.' Sam agreed casually, and then sighed. 'Dude. You can talk to me y'know? I know I've been pushy about your dissappearance and stuff, but I promised to leave it alone. To give you some space, 'cause I know pushing only makes you clam up more, and you won't talk until you're good and ready, but if something else is bothering you, you can tell me. I know it's been awhile, but it didn't affect us after being apart after my four years at Standford. Just...start talking about anything..' Sam let the sentence hang in the air.

'Pink alligators don't make great pets for kids.'

Sam stared at him. 'What?'

Dean shrugged. 'You said anything...'

'Dean...'

'Ugh, I hate it when you might not always be compltely wrong about stuff. And it's not that big of a deal. It's just..Piper's been avoiding me.'

'Yeah, I noticed.' Sam remarked dryly.

'You did?'

'Dude, everyone's noticed. I swear evertime you walk into a room she has an exscuse to leave. And it's not just you. It's me too.' Sam grumbled.

'Yeah, that must be bothering you a lot loverboy.' Dean smirked at him.

Sam blushed but didn't rise to the bait. 'Just give her some time, man. I know you're really close to her. Just like you are with all the others at the shop. But this kinda takes a while. You can't expect her be okay with this over night.'

'I know that!' He snapped. 'I just...I just want her to talk to me again. I don't want to lose a friend over this.' He finished quietly.

'You won't.' Sam re-assured him.

'You don't know that.'

Sam scoffed. 'Wow, way to have a lot of faith in your friends.' His brother admonshed him.

Dean considered this and the way Piper had been acting around him now. Hadn't Cassie been a whole lot worse when he had told her? Of course he had also been in love with her, and even though he did love Piper it definitely was more of the platonic, familial sort. She also had a pretty big stinking pile of monster get right up in her face too, so she wasn't really dealing with the disbelief side of things, leaning a bit more towards the 'holy crap! wtf is happening!' side.

He'd give her some time to process things...but dang if she didn't start coming around he would pester her like no other!

'Okay! Enough of the emo share and care time. Today Sammy you shall become a man.' Dean nodded gravely at his little brother.

'Thought I was already a man.' Sam replied amusedly.

He shook his head adamantly. 'No, no. You're not a man yet.'

'I'm over twenty-one. I drink, I drive (not at the same time), I've gotten a college education, I regularly run credit card scams, I've been arrested, I've killed people before...what more can I do?'

Dean just stared at him. 'Wow, you're an extra-ordinarily negative person. You couldn't have listed something fun to prove you're a man?' He pointed at the turn Sam was supposed to make and Sam jerked the wheel hard and pulled onto a dirt road that led onto a fairly deserted beach. 'Oh, by the way,' He smirked at Sam, 'You totally didn't include sex in your list.'

Sam just rolled his eyes at him. 'So what is this thing that I haven't done yet that will,' He raised his fingers into the quotation mark sign. '...make me a man?'

Dean got out and fiddled around with something on top of the car that he hadn't allowed to Sam to see. Smiling he came around to the driver's side and plopped down the surf board he was carrying,

'Why, you're going to learn how to surf of course.'

oOoOoOoO

 

'Hey Tish?' Trucker called out to her.

She poked her head from the back from where she had been texting Tad. 'Yeah?'

'Run this over to Zo, would you? The post office got some of our stuff mixed up again.' His weathered yet still handsome face flushed adorably.

'Awww, Jen...Trucker doesn't want to go see his girlfriend.'

Jen looked up from her computer and smirked at him. Why did he hire those two hellions again?

'Because you love us.' Tish said.

'What? Did I say that outloud?'

She laughed. 'No, but your face is like an open book Trucker. Wasn't hard to guess that you were contemplating why you hired us in the first place.' She smiled softly at him.

'Uh huh.' He smiled back but then shook his head, holding out the letters for her. 'Besides she is NOT my girlfriend.'

'But you WANT her to be.'

Tish and Zo made eye contact as Trucker grew more and more red. 'Trucker and Zo sitting in a tree...' She began.

Jen caught on quickly and continued. 'K-I-S-S-I-N-G...'

'First comes love...'

'Then comes MARRIAGE!'

'Then comes Zo and Trucker with a 100 % organic, chemical free, because they it bought through an organization that saves the rainforest they will start little Truzo as a mini tree hugger early in his life...carriage!'

Trucker just stared at her, mouth agape, as she exchanged high-fives with Jen.

'You're nuts...and we're not naming me and Zo's child Truzo! Where the heck did you come up with that anyway?'

'Ha! You totally just admitted that you and Zo are gonna have a kid one day together!' She pointed a finger triumphantly at him.

'What-? No-...I just-'

'And Truzo? Trucker and Zo combined.'

'Wow. But, please will you take them over to her? We already spent two whole days together while everyone was gone, and I don't want her to think that I'm too clingy or get tired of me too quickly.'

She sighed and took off her apron as she grabbed the letters form Trucker. 'Y'know she wouldn't think that Trucker.' She told him from the doorway as she left.

Squinting in the late afternoon glare she made her way across the street to Zo's store. She looked in the windows, admiring the colorful wind chimes and windmills, clutching the mail as she did so. She peeked behind the counter where Zo usually sat, expecting to see the gentle Wiccan lady, but was surprised to find it vacant.

'Zo?' She called not too loudly, because the place wasn't really that big. As she made her way to the back she let down her fiery, red hair from it's messy bun, because it was considerably more cooler in here than the street or the sandwich shop. She stopped for a minute and inhaled deeply, absolutely loving the way Zo's shop always smelled. The dried herbs and plants created the best fragrance in the world, far bypassing any perfume she had ever tried. Sage, lavender, jasmine and eucalyptus? Nothing could beat that.

Faintly she thought she could hear Zo's soft voice in her office in the back corner of the store. Smiling she knocked on the open doorway as Zo beckoned for her to come in and sit, as she was on the telephone.

Tish made herself comfortable as Zo finished the call.

'Yes, yes. Mhmm. Don't you worry, now let me give you a call back in a few minutes. Ok...ok...good bye.' She set the old fashioned looking telephone in it's cradle and looked up at her.

'Hello Tish. How may I be of service?'

She held out the letters and laughed. 'Post office got our stuff mixed up again.' She shrugged.

Zo laughed at that. 'My, my, that seems to occur rather often.'

'Well, I don't mind if you don't. I love coming over here.'

The Wiccan looked positively delighted to hear this. 'Really?' She leaned forward and clasped her hands in front of her. 'Tell me, what is is precisely that you enjoy about my shop.'

Tish thought the request was a little strange but answered anyway. 'I don't know. The smell for one. I love the way this place's scent seems to cling to you once you come in.'

'Yes, I rather do enjoy it myself.'

'And I really think it's cool how you make your own mixtures of medicine and stuff like that.'

'Like the special blend of herbs I gave you, Jen and Piper.'

'Yeah. Hey, what was in that stuff anyway? I swear I could still smell it on me a few days later, even after taking a shower.'

Zo laughed at this. 'Would you like to learn?'

Tish looked at her puzzled. 'Learn what?'

'What I do. How to make mixtures, and medicine. Herbalogy. The way plants can be used that most people never think to.' She fiddled with her bracelet as she said this.

'Become a Wiccan?' She asked cautiously.

Zo giggled a little bit and sighed. 'I'm not a Wiccan Tish.'

She flushed in embarrassment. 'I'm sorry! We all-...I mean-...We all just assumed...' She trailed off.

'It is quite alright. No harm done. No, the Wiccan are a wonderful people, I am simply just not one.'

'Oh. Okay.'

'I'm a witch.'

Tish stared at her for a second. A witch...the "I'll get you my pretty!" kind of witch? 'You're...a witch.' She finally decidedly to cleverly repeat.

Zo nodded. 'Yes. A witch. But no worries, no broom sticks or pointy hats in sight. Nor did I go to a magical school of wizardry, or ever want to do harm to little dogs. And never once have I concocted a poison apple.' She finished with a gentle smile.

'Well...wow. That's...pretty neat actually.'

'I've enjoyed it thus so far.' Zo got a far away look in her eyes. 'My father was the one who taught me how to cure illnesses and ailments with the help of herbs and a few simple chanted words. Helping people using unconventional methods, I suppose you could call it the family business. Unfortunately, I've never had any children and am the last in the line of my family. I would very much like to pass it on to someone.' She looked pointedly at Tish.

'Me? But-...I don't even know the first thing about spells, herbs or whatever.'

Zo laughed. 'That's okay Tish. I didn't have any idea what I was doing in the beginning either. Luckily for me I had a wise and patient father.'

'So...you just want to teach me a few things? Why me? Why not Piper or Jen? I know for a fact that Jen is way smarter than me. And Piper is a much better person to teach about healing people. She has the maternal instinct down like no other.' Tish tried to argue, but Zo just shook her head.

'You don't give yourself enough credit. I've watched you for a while now and I believe that you are more than capable of learning all that I have to teach you. Just think on it for now. There is no pressure.'

Tish sat there in the squeaky chair for a couple of minutes, indescisively chewing her bottom lip. 'Can I give you my answer later then? All of it sounds pretty interesting, but I honestly think you don't have the right girl for the job.'

'As I said Tish, no pressure.'

She nodded her head. 'Okay.' She got up and patted of her jeans off. 'I'll definitely think about it. See ya later Zo.'

As she crossed the street, she shook her head, mulling over the things Zo had offered. Mentally she scoffed, her? A witch? But still, she paused in the doorway of the sanwich shop and smiled, how freaking cool would it be to hex someone?

As the Zo watched the redhead leave she smiled. That girl did not even realise her own potential. She had no confidence beyond her looks and even then on the inside she was a scared little girl. Zo was more than happy to take her under her wing.

The phone started ringing loudly into the peaceful atmosphere of her office. She glanced down at the telephone amused and with fondness, hazarding a guess already at who it could be.

Her friend always was an impatient one, and probably wanted to continue the conversation they were having before Tish came over.

'Hello?' She answered warmly. 'Ah yes, Missouri, as I was saying...'


End file.
